Archway Tower

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent discussions he has had with the Office of the Public Guardian on future employment at Archway Tower, London, N19; and if he will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: The Chief Executive and Public Guardian continues to provide me with regular updates on the progress of the OPG's change plans, including those for the Archway Tower office.
	Archway Tower currently has three occupiers: the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), the Court of Protection (administered by Her Majesty's Courts Service) and the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS). The OPG's plans concerning its future operating model and structure are distinct from the ongoing activities of the Court and CAFCASS.
	It has become increasingly clear that the success of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 will continue to generate very significant future demand for the services of the OPG. As a result, the OPG has begun developing its strategy to ensure it is able to offer a high quality service to all of its customers: both now as well as in the future. To enable this strategy, it is planning to move OPG business progressively out of London in order to meet its customers' needs on a more efficient, effective and sustainable footing in the medium to long term.
	OPG engages actively with staff and trade unions about its change plans as they develop, particularly where they have a direct impact on teams and individuals. All work force change will be managed in line with the Ministry of Justice work force change policies, as agreed with trade unions.

Legal Aid

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many defendants were unrepresented in cases heard in each magistrates' court in each of the last three years;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the likely change in the number of unrepresented defendants as a result of the recent changes in the rules on eligibility for legal aid;
	(3)  how many representations he received in response to his recent consultation on means testing in Crown court cases; and how many of those submissions were  (a) in support of and  (b) against the introduction of such testing.

Bridget Prentice: Currently no data are collected from the magistrates courts about numbers of unrepresented defendants.
	There have been no recent changes to the rules on eligibility for criminal legal aid. Moreover, the introduction of means testing will not alter eligibility for legal aid in the Crown courts. Everyone who applies to be legally aided in the Crown court will be granted it. There is however a risk that the introduction of means testing to the Crown court will result in an increase in unrepresented defendants, as some people may decide to represent themselves rather than pay a contribution. This issue will be carefully monitored during the 'early adopter' phase and as part of the post-implementation review following national roll out.
	The recent consultation on Crown court means testing received a total of 48 responses. Over two thirds of respondents (34 in all) either explicitly supported or implied in their comments that they supported the principle that those who can afford to pay towards their defence costs should be asked to do so.

Prisoner Escapes

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) category B and  (b) category C prisoners have escaped from prison in each of the last 12 years; and how many such offenders remain at large.

Maria Eagle: Escapes from prison have been falling for over a decade and 2008-09 saw the lowest level of prison escapes since records began. The data in the following table show escapes of category B and C prisoners in England and Wales in each of the last 12 years and broken down by year, and showing incidents where a prisoner remains at large.
	
		
			  Escapes of category B and C prisoners by year, showing those remaining unlawfully at large 
			   Category B prisoners  Category C prisoners  Offender remaining at large 
			 1997-98 — 13 — 
			 1998-99 — 8 2 
			 1999-2000 — 12 1 
			 2000-01 — 5 — 
			 2001-02 6 5 — 
			 2002-03 — 2 1 
			 2003-04 — 3 1 
			 2004-05 — 10 — 
			 2005-06 — 2 — 
			 2006-07 — 1 — 
			 2007-08 — 3 1 
			 2008-09 — — — 
			  Notes:  1. includes male adult prisoners categorised to B or C but excludes all others including uncategorised remand prisoners, and those such as women and young offenders who are not categorised at B or C.  2. There has not been an escape of a category A prisoner since 1995.  3. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. 
		
	
	Figures on escapes and a range of other prison performance statistics are available at:
	http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/assets/documents/10004423prison_escapes_jan09.pdf

Prisoners

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much on average it cost to keep a  (a) category A,  (b) category B and  (c) category C prisoner in prison in 2008.

Maria Eagle: Unit costs are calculated on the basis of category of prison establishment, not on the basis of category of prisoner. Figures for 2008-09 are not yet available.
	For 2007-08 the average costs per prisoner in prisons categorised as A, B or C were as follows:
	
		
			  Total cost per prisoner for 2007-08 
			  Establishment  c ategory  £ 
			 Male dispersal (cat A) 75,000 
			 Male category B 38,000 
			 Male category C 33,000 
			  Notes: 1 Rounded to the nearest £500 2 Establishments are categorised by their main role as at the end of 2007-08. Establishments that have more than one role have been placed in the category that represents the primary or dominant function of the prison. For example HMP Moorland is designated as Category C adult but includes a large young offender population. 3. Includes contracted out prisons. 
		
	
	There are a number of factors which will cause differences in prison costs, such as the size, age, location and category of the prison, the mix of prisoners (including gender and age) and the internal regime and rehabilitation work followed.
	The costs comprise  (a) the public sector establishments' direct resource expenditure as published in the HMPS Annual Report and Accounts, which are increased by an apportionment of costs borne centrally by HMPS and the National Offender Management Service and  (b) the resource expenditure of contracted-out prisons also increased by certain costs borne centrally. This involves some estimation. Income from the Youth Justice Board (YJB) in respect of services recharged to the YJB is excluded in order to show the overall cost to the Ministry of Justice. The figures do not include prisoners held in police and court cells under Operation Safeguard, nor expenditure met by other Government departments (e.g. for health and education). The prisoner escort service is included.

Probation Boards: Finance

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which probation boards are operating in a budget deficit; and what each deficit is.

Maria Eagle: Unaudited management accounts show that five probation boards are reporting a budget overspend for the financial year ended 31 March 2009, as follows:
	
		
			   £000  Percentage 
			 Dorset 50 0.5 
			 North Yorkshire 249 2.4 
			 Surrey 36 0.3 
			 South Yorkshire 58 0.2 
			 North Wales 22 0.2 
		
	
	This must be seen in the context of underspends by other probation boards and trusts, resulting in a provisional £17 million (1.9 per cent.) underspend for the 42 probation areas in 2008-09.
	While any overspends are potentially of concern in a challenging economic and financial environment, the relatively small size of the overspends in the table and the significant underspend nationally demonstrates effective financial planning by the probation service as a whole in 2008-09.

Probation: Hampshire

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what budget was allocated to the Hampshire probation area in each of the last five years.

Maria Eagle: The resource budget allocations for Hampshire probation area for 2004-5 to 2008-09 are shown in the following table.
	As a result of changes to the budget allocation methodology, plus machinery of government changes and accounting methodology changes, it is difficult to compare figures over a long period.
	
		
			  Hampshire probation area end-year budgets 
			   Revenue (£000) 
			 2008-09 25,614 
			 2007-08 24,338 
			 2006-07 23,057 
			 2005-06 21,872 
			 2004-05 20,026

Archaeology

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what criteria his Department uses in deciding whether to fund archaeological and cultural heritage projects; and if he will make a statement.

Kevan Jones: There are three main criteria used by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) in deciding whether to fund projects: compliance with legislation; compliance with planning policy obligations; and the Department's commitment to be a good practice exemplar in the management of its historic estate. These are balanced against the funding and delivery of defence capability.
	As a landowner MOD has a legal responsibility for the care of designated heritage assets. We work closely with statutory bodies to identify and prioritise work resulting from the regular assessment of the condition of heritage assets.

Archaeology

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department takes to ensure the preservation of archaeological and cultural heritage sites on land it owns; and if he will make a statement.

Kevan Jones: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has formally adopted the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Protocol for the Care of the Government Historic Estate (2003) and 'The Disposal of Historic Buildings (1999)'. This approach supports the effective management and sustainable conservation of all its heritage assets, balanced against the delivery of defence capability.
	Performance measurement on the condition of heritage assets is reported on a biennial basis within MOD's Heritage Report. The 2005-07 report is available on the Defence Estates website found at the following link:
	http://www.defence-estates.mod.uk/publications/corporate/MODHeritageReport2005-2007final.pdf
	There are three aspects of the management of these assets: management and maintenance of the estate; new construction; and liaison with other Government Departments.
	On management and maintenance, the condition of all listed buildings and scheduled monuments is assessed on a four and five year basis respectively. Recommendations are integrated into maintenance and management plans for the asset concerned. Where an asset is considered to be at risk we develop a strategy in conjunction with our heritage partners, local planning authorities and customers.
	A sustainability appraisal is undertaken for each new estate construction project. Heritage issues are managed as part of the design and construction process. Relevant planning consents are obtained in accordance with heritage legislation.
	A formal engagement framework is in place covering liaison with statutory heritage bodies, but we also discuss specific cases with them. As a major stakeholder in the heritage sector, the MOD has also contributed to the development of wider policy and legislation in this area, including the Heritage Protection Bill and the Government's Vision Statement for the Historic Environment.
	The Department's 2007-09 Heritage Report is due to be published in the next few months and a copy will be placed in the Library of the House.

Departmental Equipment

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of equipment procured by his Department was produced in the UK in each year since 1997.

Quentin Davies: We do not hold information on the proportion of equipment produced in the UK.
	We have, however, produced an estimate of the proportion of MOD equipment expenditure spent with UK prime contractors. This information is set out in the table. Information prior to 2002-03 is not held in the format requested.
	
		
			  Financial year  Percentage MOD equipment expenditure with UK industry 
			 2002-03 84 
			 2003-04 83 
			 2004-05 81 
			 2005-06 81 
			 2006-07 80 
			  Note: VAT exclusive at current prices (£ million).  Source: Defence Analytical Services and Advice analysis of data contained in "Table 1.9 and 1.9a of UK Defence Statistics".

Military Bases

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will consider  (a) reducing the frequency of grass cutting on his Department's military bases and  (b) developing wildflower meadows in such locations as a contribution to the Government's targets for biodiversity.

Kevan Jones: The extent to which opportunities to encourage wildlife on grassed areas can be implemented is dictated by the requirements of the site. It is our policy that within the constraints of safety, security and establishment requirements, every opportunity should be taken in grassed areas of the Defence estate to provide habitat for wildlife and plant species. This includes wild flower meadow habitat where this is feasible and appropriate.

Election Candidates

David Drew: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission whether the Electoral Commission has assessed the merits of requiring parliamentary candidates to make full financial disclosures at the point at which they became a candidate; and if he will make a statement.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission currently has no powers to require such disclosures. A new requirement of this nature would need legislation and is therefore a matter for Parliament. The Electoral Commission has previously commented that, while a new requirement could increase transparency in respect of unsuccessful candidates, it would also impose new administrative burdens on all candidates, and on those responsible for administering the new requirement.

Stem Cells: Research

Ann Winterton: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners what the Church Commissioners' policy is on investment in companies which fund embryonic stem cell research.

Stuart Bell: The Church Commissioners adopted a revised policy on investment in companies involved in human embryonic stem cell research in 2008 following new advice from the Church of England's Ethical Investment Advisory Group. As long as no international ban on human reproductive cloning exists, the Church Commissioners will not invest in companies, a major part of whose business—defined as over 25 per cent. of turnover—is engaged in the cloning of human embryos. This exclusion also covers companies which use cloning techniques to create cybrids and chimeras combining animal eggs with human DNA.
	In addition, the Ethical Investment Advisory Group, acting on behalf of the Church's investing bodies, engages with companies involved in, or deriving significant use from, research using human embryonic stem cells. In such engagement the Ethical Investment Advisory Group represents the Church's position, namely that such research should be undertaken only when absolutely necessary once all other possible avenues have been explored and the mystery and sanctity of the human embryo are respected.

Stem Cells: Research

Ann Winterton: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners if the Church Commissioners will withdraw their investments from companies which fund embryonic stem cell research.

Stuart Bell: The Church Commissioners do not invest in companies, a major part of whose business—defined as over 25 per cent. of turnover—is engaged in the cloning of human embryos or of cybrids and chimeras which combine animal eggs with human DNA. No changes to this policy are under consideration.

Departmental Information Officers

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many press officers the Government Equalities Office has employed in each year since its inception; and what the cost of her Office's press office was in each such year.

Michael Jabez Foster: Since its creation on 12 October 2007, the Government Equalities Office has employed the following press office staff at the costs shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Number  of press office  posts  Number  of press office  staff employed  Total staff costs (£) 
			 2007-08 2 2 5,738 
			 2008-09 2 (1)5 155,970 
			 2009-10 3 3 (2)25,618 
			 (1) Some of the staff employed were on short-term contracts (2) As at 30 May 2009

Domestic Violence

Doug Naysmith: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what contribution the Government Equalities Office has made to the cross-Government consultation, 'Together We Can End Violence Against Women and Girls; and what steps her Office is taking to ensure adequate funding for specialist voluntary sector organisations dealing with violence against women.

Michael Jabez Foster: The Government Equalities Office is closely involved with the cross-Government consultation 'Together We Can End Violence Against Women and Girls', as is my Department's advisory non-departmental public body, the Women's National Commission.
	Government expect the majority of funding to specialist voluntary sector organisations dealing with violence against women to come from local bodies, such as local councils and health bodies. In general, funding decisions for local services are determined by local commissioners who are well-placed to identify local needs. Addressing domestic and sexual violence will be a key priority in helping local partnerships to deliver fully on the Public Service Agreement requirements.
	The 'Together We Can End Violence Against Women and Girls' consultation closed on 29 May 2009. A key theme for consultation was the promotion of better consistency and quality of provision of services for victims of violence against women and girls. This work will be taken forward during development of a cross-Government strategy.

Government Equalities Office: International Women's Day

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how much the Government Equalities Office spent on promoting International Women's Day 2009.

Michael Jabez Foster: The Government Equalities Office did not spend any money on promoting International Women's Day 2009.
	The Ministers for Women led a debate in the House of Commons on 5 March 2009 on 'Support for women through the economic downturn and for the future' to mark International Women's Day.

Males: Domestic Violence

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many centres for male victims of domestic violence have been opened in each month in each of the last five years.

Michael Jabez Foster: The provision of services to victims of domestic violence is a local issue; local decision makers are best placed to assess local needs. The majority of services are delivered through local providers who are supported and funded by local bodies, such as local councils and health organisations. As such, the Government do not collect information centrally on the number of services available for victims of domestic violence.
	However, the Government do take the issue of domestic violence very seriously and since 1997 have taken significant steps to combat it. The Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 was designed to be deliberately gender neutral and we expect all victims of domestic violence to be taken seriously by all services. The Government are funding a Men's Advice Line (0808 801 0327) which has been specifically set up to support male victims of domestic violence.
	In addition, the Specialist Domestic Violence Court (SDVC) programme has continued to expand and the Government are committed to increasing the number of SDVCs to 128 by 2011. Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences are currently operational in over 200 areas, and will be rolled out nationally by 2011. Furthermore, in 2008-09 we provided over £6 million to support the roll-out of Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVAs) and Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARACs).

Rape: Victim Support Schemes

Theresa May: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many organisations have applied for funding to the Special Fund for rape crisis centres for 2009-10; and how much such funding has been applied for.

Michael Jabez Foster: The Special Fund for the sexual violence voluntary sector closed for applications on 5 June 2009 by which time 52 applications had been received. Of these, 51 are eligible for consideration for funding.
	An initial assessment indicates that the total of these 51 applications is £2,322,468.49. Each application will be assessed against the published criteria for support from the fund and applicants informed in due course of the outcome.

Fuel Poverty: Elderly

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what programmes his Department operates to provide assistance to the elderly in fuel poverty; when each was instituted; and how much has been spent under each such programme in each of the last 10 years.

Joan Ruddock: holding answer 11 June 2009
	 The Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) (1 April 2008-31 March 2011) is the third three-year cycle of the supplier obligation which began on 1 April 2002 (then known as the Energy Efficiency Commitment). This policy places a carbon saving obligation on the main household gas and electricity suppliers. Suppliers are obligated to achieve a percentage of their carbon saving target (this is at least 40 per cent. in CERT) in a priority group of low income and elderly households. The priority group includes all households with a person aged 70 and over. We do not have powers to oblige suppliers to report their expenditure. However, through independent studies commissioned for cost benefit purposes, we estimate that 60 per cent. of suppliers' expenditure goes to the priority group. We estimate that over the nine years of the obligation, some £2.7 billion will be invested by suppliers in meeting their priority group obligations.
	Warm Front is the Government's main scheme for tackling fuel poverty and was instituted in 2000. The scheme has spent in excess of £2 billion on a range of energy efficiency measures including insulation and central heating. Since 2005, over half of the scheme's total budget has been spent on assisting those over the age of 60. The table shows the breakdown of spending in each year for this phase of the scheme. Figures for the last scheme year (2008-09) are not yet available. It is worth noting that in the 2007-08 scheme year alone, over £37 million of the total was spent on helping those over the age of 81.
	
		
			  Scheme year  Measures spend on clients 60+ (£)  Proportion of total measures spend on clients 60+ (percentage) 
			 2005-06 105,750,589.31 56 
			 2006-07 177,189,810.76 56 
			 2007-08 196,754,669.07 56 
		
	
	The total spend in each year since the scheme was instituted is shown as follows:
	
		
			   Total spend (£ million) 
			 2000-01 72 
			 2001-02 197 
			 2002-03 163 
			 2003-04 164 
			 2004-05 166 
			 2005-06 192 
			 2006-07 320 
			 2007-08 350 
			 2008-09 397

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the level of greenhouse gas emissions from the UK was in each year since 1997; and what the percentage change from 1997 was in each year.

Joan Ruddock: The latest 2007 estimates of greenhouse gas emissions were published on 3 February 2009. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is currently publishing the DECC climate change statistics and the 2007 Final UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions National Statistics can be found at the following web address:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/globatmos/index.htm
	The following table shows total greenhouse gas emissions 1997-2007 and also carbon dioxide emissions 1997-2007. Percentage changes in emissions for each year are also shown. These figures have been compiled from the DECC Final UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions National Statistics.
	
		
			  Changes in all greenhouse gas emissions and carbon dioxide emissions 1997  to  2007 
			  Million tonnes CO 2  equivalent 
			   Net CO 2  emissions (emissions minus removals )  Percentage change from 1997  Total greenhouse gas emissions (Kyoto basket)  Percentage change from 1997 
			 1997 551.6 — 709.8 — 
			 1998 553.6 0 705.4 -1 
			 1999 543.0 -2 672.7 -5 
			 2000 551.1 0 674.7 -5 
			 2001 562.5 2 678.2 -4 
			 2002 544.9 -1 656.4 -8 
			 2003 556.2 1 661.1 -7 
			 2004 555.9 1 658.6 -7 
			 2005 553.2 0 652.8 -8 
			 2006 551.1 0 647.9 -9 
			 2007 542.6 -2 636.6 -10 
			  Notes: 1. Figures for carbon dioxide include the Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry sector (LULUCF), but exclude emissions from UK Overseas Territories. 2. The Kyoto basket total differs slightly from sum of individual pollutants above as the basket uses a narrower definition for the Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry sector (LULUCF), and includes emissions from UK Overseas Territories. 3. The entire time series is revised each year to take account of methodological improvements in the UK emissions inventory. 4. Emissions are presented as carbon dioxide equivalent in line with international reporting and carbon trading. To convert Carbon dioxide into carbon equivalents, divide figures by 44/12.  5. Figures shown do not include any adjustment for the effect of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EUETS), which was introduced in 2005.

Air Passenger Duty

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many passengers travelled by air to destinations that would now be classified as Air Passenger Duty Bands  (a) A,  (b) B,  (c) C and  (d) D in 2008.

Paul Clark: The following table shows the number of passengers who travelled by air to destinations that would now be classified as air passenger duty (APD) bands A, B, C and D in 2008.
	
		
			  APD band  Passengers ( m illion) 
			 A 92.8 
			 B 16.8 
			 C 6.3 
			 D 2.0 
			  Notes: 1. Band A includes domestic flights. 2. APD is not paid on flights departing 'from' airports in the Scottish Highlands and Islands.  Source: DfT analysis of Civil Aviation Authority data.

Aviation

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will estimate the likely effect of an increase in the average cost of a domestic flight by one-third on passenger numbers.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport's "UK Air Passenger Demand and CO2 Forecasts", published in January 2009, reports the elasticity of domestic demand with respect to air fares in table 2.1, page 17. The report is available at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/aviation/atf/co2forecasts09/
	This elasticity determines the responsiveness of domestic demand for air travel to changes in fares, before airport capacity constraints have been accounted for.
	No estimate of the effect on passenger demand of an increase of one-third in the domestic air fare is available.

Departmental Correspondence

Alistair Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what percentage of letters to his Department from hon. Members' Parliamentary offices were answered within 30 days of the date of receipt in each quarter from January 2008 to March 2009.

Chris Mole: The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members' correspondence. The report for 2008 was published on 2 April 2009,  Official Report, columns 80-86WS.

DVLA: Disclosure of Information

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many requests for information in respect of the registered keeper of a vehicle were made to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) in 2008-09; how many of those were received  (a) in electronic form and  (b) by post from (i) DVLA-accredited trade associations, (ii) non-DVLA-accredited car park operators, (iii) individuals and (iv) others; and how many in each such category were (A) accepted and (B) refused.

Paul Clark: The following tables provides the information requested where it is available.
	
		
			Of which: 
			   Total  Submitted electronically  Submitted by post 
			 Requests for information received during 2008-09 21,115,951 18,318,355 2,797,596 
			 (i) Requests from car parking operators who are members of a DVLA accredited trade association (1)— 1,480,044 (1)— 
			 (ii) Requests from car parking operators who are not members of a DVLA accredited trade association (1)— 0 (1)— 
			 (iii) Requests from individuals (1)— 0 (1)— 
			 (iv) Requests from others (local authorities, police, Transport for London, etc.) (1)— 16,838,311 (1)— 
			 (1) Information not available separately. 
		
	
	Of all these requests:
	
		
			Of which: 
			   Total  Submitted electronically  Submitted by post 
			 Those accepted 21,070,722 18,318,355 2,752,367 
			 Those refused 45,229 0 45,229 
		
	
	Applications for information in respect of the registered keeper are not received from accredited trade associations but rather from their members.

Motorways

Greg Knight: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if the Secretary of State will make it his policy to ensure that traffic information on motorway closures is given out to motorists at the earliest opportunity via  (a) radio broadcasts and  (b) digital road information signs; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mole: It is already our clear policy to do so. The Highways Agency aims to inform customers as quickly as possible about traffic conditions and incidents on the motorway and trunk road network, using many channels. Information is provided directly to the media through dedicated services such as the Highways Agency's website—Traffic England—which carries comprehensive and up-to-date information, and the agency now operates its own DAB radio service—Traffic Radio—giving continuously updated news and information about the network. The agency also aims to keep the messages on its roadside variable message signs as accurate, reliable and helpful to the travelling public as possible.

Railways: Electrification

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what funding his Department is planning to provide for the electrification of the Barking to Gospel Oak rail line; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mole: holding answer 22 June 2009
	In January 2009 the Department for Transport made an offer to contribute a capital sum towards the cost of the electrification of the Gospel Oak to Barking line conditional on Transport for London (TfL) taking forward the project, including working up a business case, finding the balance of the cost and bearing all risks.
	The Department's contribution could be up to £25 million, the amount depending on as yet undefined savings against the budget for the North London Line Camden Road freight scheme announced last year.
	TfL has now indicated that there is now little likelihood that it could undertake to fund and bear the risks of the electrification scheme.

Railways: Finance

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much capital funding the Government has allocated to the rail network in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point in each of the last five years.

Chris Mole: The information is not available in the form requested. A breakdown of annual expenditure by mode and region is available in the Department for Transport's annual report and details of total historic expenditure are available in National Rail Trends which is published by the Office of Rail Regulation. Copies of these documents are available in the Libraries of the House.

Railways: Hearing Impaired

David Anderson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what steps his Department has taken to make railway stations accessible to deaf and hard of hearing people in the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mole: Since 2006 around £12.4 million has been offered from the Access for All Small Schemes Fund for projects at stations benefiting deaf and hard of hearing people. These have included induction loops at 317 stations, new customer information systems at 146 stations, improved signage at 198 stations, help points at 404 stations and information boards and screens at 39 stations.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the capital budget of the Highways Agency for  (a) maintenance and  (b) enhancement work was in each of the last five years.

Chris Mole: Capital budgets for enhancing the trunk road network including capital maintenance for each of the last five years are set out in the following table:
	
		
			  £ million 
			   (a) Maintenance capital budget  (b) Capital budget (excluding maintenance) 
			 2004-05 24 540 
			 2005-06 39 717 
			 2006-07 31 1,093 
			 2007-08 30 1,030 
			 2008-09 108 1,156 
		
	
	Capital funds are used for delivering additions and improvements to the road network, and enhancements to the technology assets associated with the network.
	The capital maintenance budgets shown above are primarily for renewals of technology equipment on the strategic road network.
	In 2008-09, as part of the 2007 comprehensive spending review, the capital maintenance budget included an assumption for roads and structures renewals that could be undertaken as part of a Major Scheme improvement. Prior to 2008-09, this would have been classified as resource expenditure. This explains the increase in the indicative budget when compared to previous years.

Transport

Gordon Banks: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what steps he plans to take to improve the main transport routes in the UK.

Chris Mole: holding answer 22 June 2009
	The publication of Delivering a Sustainable Transport System (DaSTS) in November 2008 re-iterated the Department's commitment to serious long term transport planning.
	We are investing £15 billion up to 2014 to transform the rail network, redeveloping stations and lengthening platforms. We are also delivering 1,300 extra carriages which will provide around 10,000 extra seats per day.
	In January we announced up to £6 billion investment in the national strategic roads network. This will fund schemes on our major motorways including the M1, M6, M25 and M62 and major trunk roads the A1 and A14. This will deliver around 520 additional lane miles including 340 lane miles of hard shoulder running.
	We have also set up a company, High Speed Two, to develop proposals for a high speed line to the West Midlands possibly via interchange at Heathrow, with options for links to the North and Scotland.

Transport: Carbon Emissions

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what research his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the costs and benefits for the transport sector of carbon dioxide emissions trading.

Sadiq Khan: The information requested is as follows:
	 Aviation
	In preparation for the inclusion of the aviation sector in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) from 2012, the Department has commissioned the following studies:
	'Including Aviation into the EU ETS: Impact on EU allowance prices' (2006) commissioned jointly with DEFRA
	'A Study to Estimate Ticket price Changes for Aviation in the EU ETS' (2007) commissioned jointly with DEFRA
	'The impacts of the use of different benchmarking methodologies on the initial allocation of emission trading scheme permits to airlines' (2007) commissioned jointly with the Environment Agency
	'A study to estimate the impacts of emissions trading on profits in aviation' (2007) commissioned jointly with DEFRA.
	In addition, the Department has reviewed and considered a wide range of other studies that have been undertaken on the costs and benefits of carbon dioxide emissions trading for the aviation sector.
	 Roads
	The Department for Transport has not specifically commissioned research on emissions trading for road transport.
	 Shipping
	The Department for Transport has not commissioned or evaluated research exclusively on the costs and benefits of emissions trading in respect of carbon dioxide emissions from ships.

Transport: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much funding his Department allocated to transport networks used primarily for tourism in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point in each of the last five years.

Sadiq Khan: Funding provided by the Department for Transport to local transport authorities is not generally ring-fenced and local authorities have discretion to spend their allocations in line with their priorities. Figures are not available at constituency level.
	The Department provides integrated transport block and highways maintenance funding to local transport authorities to support capital investment in transport, which may be used for a range of purposes as the authorities see fit. Funding support provided to Essex county council in the last five years is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Essex county council 
			   £ million 
			 2008-09 33,638 
			 2007-08 34,946 
			 2006-07 30,009 
			 2005-06 31,888 
			 2004-05 26,876 
		
	
	Revenue expenditure on transport is generally supported through the Department for Communities and Local Government's Formula Grant.

Transport: Young People

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what steps his Department is taking to consult young people on decisions relating to transport provision; and what other steps he is taking to increase levels of involvement of young people in decisions affecting their use of transport.

Sadiq Khan: The Department for Transport's overarching aim is to provide "transport that works for everyone"—including young people, from infants to young adults—through a transport system that balances the needs of the economy, the environment and society.
	Most of the Department's research into public attitudes involves understanding the views of young people from 16 years old. The Department proactively leads or participates in widespread consultations with young people, on a formal and informal basis, actively seeking their views on transport plans, issues and concerns. The Department also conducts research and runs consultations on the travel habits of children as well as young adults.
	Transport Ministers have regular engagement with young people through organisations such as the UK Youth Parliament (for 11 to 18-year-olds) which regularly discusses key transport issues affecting young people. The Department has also worked with the National Youth Agency to develop ways of making transport more accessible to young people.
	The Department educates children on road safety directly and via parents and schools (Think! Campaign). The Department also, through Cycling England, funds training on safer cycling for children, and seeks their views and their parents' views on it.

Africa: Overseas Aid

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to ensure that levels of development assistance provided to Africa by his Department are maintained during the economic downturn.

Gareth Thomas: The April 2009 Budget confirmed levels of UK official development assistance originally laid out in the comprehensive spending review of 2007. The Department for International Development's (DFID) expenditure in Africa is now projected to be £3.4 billion in 2010-11. This ensures that the UK will deliver on its commitments to Africa made at Gleneagles in 2005.

Departmental Recycling

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what  (a) volume and  (b) percentage of waste his Department recycled in (i) 2006-07 and (ii) 2007-08.

Michael Foster: The amount of recycled waste, and its proportion of total waste produced, for the Department for International Development's United Kingdom estate was as follows:
	
		
			   Recycled waste (tonnes)  As percentage of total waste 
			 2006-07 266 80.9 
			 2007-08 214.6 81.3

Departmental Waste

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the amount of waste arising from his Department in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff.

Michael Foster: The amount of waste produced by the Department for International Development's UK estate, as reported to the Sustainable Development Commission, is as follows:
	
		
			   Waste (tonnes)  Per FTE 
			 2006-07 329 0.19 
			 2007-08 263.9 0.15

Departmental Water

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the water consumption on his Department's estate in  (a) 2005-06 and  (b) 2006-07, (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff.

Michael Foster: The water consumption on DFID's UK estate for this period, and thereafter, was as follows:
	
		
			   Water use (cu m)  Water use (per full-time equivalent member of staff) 
			 2005-06 13,556 6.7 
			 2006-07 12,398 7.1 
			 2007-08 17,223 10.0 
		
	
	Our latest figures for 2008-09 show we achieved a significant reduction to 9,341 cubic metres. This was due to a number of initiatives such as waterless urinals and dual flush cisterns. These data are reported annually in the Sustainable Development Commission's Report "Sustainable Development in Government".

G8

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the outcome of the G8 Development Ministers meeting on 11 and 12 June 2009 was; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: The meeting highlighted the need for a strong, coherent and coordinated response to the challenges faced by the poorest countries as a result of the economic crisis. It also reaffirmed G8 commitments on increasing official development assistance (ODA) made at previous G8 summits. Development Ministers also agreed to strengthen our accountability to show progress towards meeting existing pledges.
	The G8 Development Ministers had a successful meeting discussing the broad spectrum of development issues. This will provide a sound basis for moving forward the development agenda at the G8 Leaders summit in July. For detail of what was discussed and agreed I refer the hon. Member to the "Chairs Summary" of the G8 Development Ministers Meeting, a copy of which will be placed in the Library of the House.

International Assistance: Children

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he plans to take towards fulfilment of his commitment to assist children in conflict zones to attend schools.

Michael Foster: Over the period 2002-03 to 2007-08 the Department for International Development (DFID) has more than doubled bilateral support to education in fragile states. In 2007 DFID outlined further plans for increasing support to education for children affected by conflict or living in fragile states. This 2007 announcement by Gordon Brown included commitments to provide financial support for education in specific conflict and post-conflict states. Significant progress has been made in these countries. In Afghanistan DFID has contributed £60 million to the Afghanistan reconstruction trust fund that meets the costs of 100,000 teachers. DFID's total contributions in Afghanistan to date have helped increase the number of pupils in school from two million in 2002 to over 5.4 million. In Somalia, DFID is supporting to date some 18,500 boys and girls in school through partnerships with UNICEF and non governmental organisations (NGOs).
	Globally, DFID provides UNICEF with £4 million per year to strengthen UNICEF's humanitarian response, including in the education sector. DFID is also currently working with UNICEF and other development partners to finalise the setting up of a fund, as part of the Fast Track Initiative (FTI) partnership, to support education in countries emerging from conflict and fragility. We will contribute £20 million to this fund.

Mauritania: Overseas Aid

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what development assistance his Department has provided to the government of Mauritania in each of the last three years.

Gareth Thomas: Details on the UK's bilateral aid expenditure and imputed share of multilateral official development assistance (ODA) are contained in the DFID publication "Statistics on International Development". This publication is available from the Library and online at:
	www.dfid.gov.uk
	Relevant figures are produced in the following table:
	
		
			  DFID bilateral expenditure and imputed multilateral expenditure  in Mauritania 2005-06 to 2007-08 
			  £ 000 
			   DFID bilateral expenditure  DFID imputed multilateral share 
			 2005-06 58 3,673 
			 2006-07 1,565 10,797 
			 2007-08 93 3,921

Zimbabwe: Cholera

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his most recent estimate is of the number of people in Zimbabwe who are now in South Africa who have contracted cholera; and what assessment he has made of their access to medical treatment.

Gareth Thomas: According to United Nations figures, as of 15 June, there has been a cumulative total of 98,531 cases of cholera with 4,282 deaths. The situation is now under control and the daily rate of infection has fallen to only a handful of cases. International support, including a £10 million package from the Department for International Development (DFID), has helped to keep essential health systems operating.

Zimbabwe: Politics and Government

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his estimate is of the number of refugees from Zimbabwe since the formation of the unity government; what assessment he has made of their access to humanitarian aid; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: Zimbabwe's social and economic decline has forced many Zimbabweans to leave the country during the last few years. The vast majority of those leaving do so by irregular means and do not request refugee status. It is therefore difficult to assess their numbers generally or within the specific period since the elections but numbers would probably exceed one million.
	Zimbabweans living in South Africa, and those deported back to Zimbabwe, require access to a range of medical, food, shelter and child support services. This is being provided by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Medicins sans Frontières (MSF) and Save the Children. DFID has provided financial support to Save the Children and is the second largest contributor to the IOM.

Digital Broadcasting

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the costs of  (a) printing and  (b) distributing paper copies of the Digital Britain White Paper were.

Ben Bradshaw: The Digital Britain Report was produced jointly between the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The cost of printing paper copies of the Digital Britain Report was £26,171.22 and the cost of distributing paper copies was £1,888.60 as of 19 June 2009.

National Lottery: Chorley

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much Lottery funding has been received by each project in receipt of such funding in Chorley in each of the last five years.

Si�n Simon: holding answer 22 June 2009
	Lottery awards made to organisations in the Chorley local authority area between 2004-05 and 2008-09 are set out in the following tables:
	
		
			  Table 1: 2004-05 
			  Grant date  Recipient  Grant amount () 
			 12 April 2004 The Lancashire African Association 4,980 
			 12 April 2004 South Ribble and Chorley New Media Association 5,000 
			 12 April 2004 Sea Cadet Corps: Chorley Unit 526 1,050 
			 12 April 2004 Croston Junior Football Club 4,361 
			 20 April 2004 Heroes Return Award to an individual 875 
			 5 May 2004 Heroes Return Award to an individual 525 
			 11 May 2004 Brothers of Charity 'Friends of Thursday' Club 3,350 
			 11 May 2004 LGBT Community Media 5,000 
			 11 May 2004 Chorley Community Film Makers Association 5,000 
			 11 May 2004 Hurst Green Bungalows Over 60's Committee 1,325 
			 25 May 2004 Heroes Return Award to an individual 300 
			 8 June 2004 Heroes Return Award to an individual 780 
			 8 June 2004 Coppull Arts and Activities Group 5,000 
			 8 June 2004 St. Peters Church Lads and Church Girls Brigade 2,169 
			 8 June 2004 Chorley and District Mencap Society 4,781 
			 10 June 2004 Heritage Trust for the North West 1,695,000 
			 14 June 2004 Mrs. Prabha Appaji 5,000 
			 22 June 2004 Heroes Return Award to an individual 780 
			 6 July 2004 Beechbuds Pre-School 4,040 
			 6 July 2004 The Chorley and District Historical and Archaeological Society 5,000 
			 6 July 2004 Chorley Tennis Club 4,740 
			 7 July 2004 Creative Minds 7,900 
			 13 July 2004 Heroes Return Award to an individual 875 
			 21 July 2004 Visual Concepts UK Ltd. 1,250 
			 27 July 2004 Heroes Return Award to an individual 2,100 
			 3 August 2004 Clayton Brook Community Group 4,960 
			 3 August 2004 Chorley Community Cinema 5,000 
			 5 August 2004 Age Concern Lancashire 106,532 
			 10 August 2004 Heroes Return Award to an individual 300 
			 8 September 2004 Home-Start Chorley and South Ribble 5,000 
			 8 September 2004 Balshaw Lane Community Primary School 4,284 
			 8 September 2004 The Travelling Mulberries 5,000 
			 8 September 2004 Music and Arts for Chorley Youth (M.A.C.Y.) 4,412 
			 8 September 2004 Eccleston Brass Band 5,000 
			 23 September 2004 Brothers of Charity 'Friday Club' 2,439 
			 1 October 2004 Heroes Return Award to an individual 525 
			 7 October 2004 Croston Parish Plan Steering Group 10,286 
			 14 October 2004 Heroes Return Award to an individual 525 
			 14 October 2004 Heroes Return Award to an individual 2,100 
			 22 October 2004 Rivington and Blackrod High School 4,627 
			 4 November 2004 WWIIMemories 24,930 
			 4 November 2004 Age Concern Lancashire 10,340 
			 10 November 2004 Heroes Return Award to an individual 1,050 
			 10 November 2004 Heroes Return Award to an individual 7,000 
			 10 November 2004 Heroes Return Award to an individual 425 
			 25 November 2004 Chorley St. Laurence Historical Society 5,000 
			 8 December 2004 Age Concern Chorley 9,999 
			 8 December 2004 Named Individual 10,000 
			 10 December 2004 Heroes Return Award to an individual 300 
			 10 December 2004 Home-Start Chorley and South Ribble 88,227 
			 14 December 2004 Heroes Return Award to an individual 875 
			 14 December 2004 Heroes Return Award to an individual 3,475 
			 21 December 2004 Chorley Photographic Society 4,908 
			 21 December 2004 Chorley Capers 5,000 
			 21 December 2004 1st Clayton Brook Beaver Scouts 3,600 
			 21 December 2004 Weldbank Junior Bowling Club 4,951 
			 21 December 2004 Heroes Return Award to an individual 525 
			 25 January 2005 Heroes Return Award to an individual 875 
			 9 February 2005 Heroes Return Award to an individual 525 
			 9 February 2005 Heroes Return Award to an individual 2,100 
			 23 February 2005 Whittle-le-Woods Community Hall Trust 5,000 
			 23 February 2005 Chorley Youth Music 5,000 
			 23 February 2005 New Vision Audio Workshops 5,000 
			 23 February 2005 Friends of the River Yarrow 5,000 
			 23 February 2005 Mawdesley Village Hall 5,000 
			 23 February 2005 Euxton Primrose Hill Out of School Club 4,529 
			 23 February 2005 St. Michael's and All Angels (Croston) Parish Church 4,798 
			 23 February 2005 Chorley Borough Cricket Development Group 4,890 
			 23 February 2005 Chorley Trials Club 3,853 
			 23 February 2005 Runshaw College 5,000 
			 10 March 2005 Oceanstorm Films (UK) Ltd. 750 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: 2005-06 
			  Grant date  Recipient  Grant amount () 
			 26 April 2005 Rivington Terraced Gardens Project 8,500 
			 3 May 2005 Chorley's Lifestyle Centre for the Over 50s 1,950 
			 10 May 2005 Heroes Return Award to an individual 525 
			 10 May 2005 Astley Village Parish Council 5,000 
			 10 May 2005 Heroes Return Award to an individual 875 
			 10 May 2005 City of Preston (Junior) Hockey Club 4,300 
			 10 May 2005 ME/CFS Self Help Support Group (Preston) 4,960 
			 10 May 2005 Chorley Hospital Radio 5,000 
			 10 May 2005 Brindle Parish Institute 2,350 
			 10 May 2005 Clayton Brook Community House 4,990 
			 8 June 2005 North Russia Club 5,600 
			 10 June 2005 Named Individual 500 
			 10 June 2005 Oceanstorm Films (UK) Ltd. 4,000 
			 15 June 2005 Heroes Return Award to an individual 1,300 
			 15 June 2005 Heroes Return Award to an individual 2,100 
			 27 June 2005 Chorley, South Ribble and Districts Citizens Advice Bureaux 4,500 
			 28 June 2005 Totsercise 4,695 
			 28 June 2005 Preston Poets Society 2,941 
			 29 June 2005 Chorley Borough Council 9,700 
			 29 June 2005 Heroes Return Award to an individual 2,100 
			 1 July 2005 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust Ltd. 139,256 
			 4 July 2005 The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside 47,400 
			 4 August 2005 Creative Minds 7,696 
			 9 August 2005 Holy Cross RC High School 140,000 
			 15 August 2005 Bongomagic 5,000 
			 15 August 2005 St. Paul's Amateur Players 5,000 
			 15 August 2005 South West Chorley Community Safety Group 4,950 
			 5 September 2005 Physico Theatre Ltd. 24,900 
			 12 September 2005 The Bolton Astronomical Society 4,550 
			 4 October 2005 Chorley's Lifestyle Centre for the Over 50s 55,591 
			 4 October 2005 Chorley and South Ribble Council For Voluntary Service 44,317 
			 4 October 2005 ME/CFS Self Help Support Group (Preston) 22,139 
			 24 October 2005 Eccleston Heritage Clog 3,060 
			 24 October 2005 Chorley Film Society 4,489 
			 24 October 2005 The Chorley DJ Collective 5,000 
			 24 October 2005 The Chorley Well Women Centre 3,850 
			 24 October 2005 Chorley Youth Dance 5,000 
			 24 October 2005 St. Pauls (Adlington) Nursery 5,000 
			 25 November 2005 Age Concern Lancashire 295,360 
			 29 November 2005 Brindle St. James' Parents, Teachers and Friends Association 2,000 
			 29 November 2005 Preston Pride Basketball Club 3,952 
			 29 November 2005 Croston St. Michael's Scout Group 3,800 
			 24 January 2006 White Coppice Cricket Club 5,000 
			 24 January 2006 Soundworks 2,195 
			 24 January 2006 Ulnes Walton Charitable Fund 4,995 
			 8 February 2006 Horwich R.M.I. Harriers and Athletic Club 5,000 
			 8 February 2006 The Arts Partnership 88,026 
			 7 March 2006 Leyland Lawn Tennis Club 4,586 
			 7 March 2006 Bretherton Out of School Club 5,000 
			 7 March 2006 Rural Community Partnership Trust 4,910 
			 7 March 2006 Brindle Historical Society 1,600 
			 20 March 2006 Leyland Fox Lane Bowling Club 5,000 
			 20 March 2006 Anderton Parish Council 5,000 
			 20 March 2006 Jubilee Concertinas 3,450 
			 20 March 2006 Brindle Parish Institute (Brindle Community Hall) 4,991 
			 20 March 2006 Chorley Cricket Club 4,985 
			 20 March 2006 Moss Side Village Playgroup 2,894 
			 20 March 2006 Charnock Richard Cricket Club 2,633 
			 20 March 2006 Abbey Village Primary School 4,250 
			 20 March 2006 Ormskirk Tennis Club 2,455 
			 20 March 2006 Adlington and District Carnival Committee Limited 5,000 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: 2006-07 
			  Grant date  Recipient  Grant amount () 
			 11 April 2006 Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside 50,000 
			 9 May 2006 Function Room 4,925 
			 9 May 2006 Art in Adlington 4,920 
			 9 May 2006 Astley Village Juniors Football Club 4,853 
			 31 May 2006 Chorley Borough Bowls Forum 3,535 
			 31 May 2006 Chorley District Scout Council 5,000 
			 31 May 2006 Croston Community Centre 4,976 
			 31 May 2006 South Lancashire Arts Partnership 5,000 
			 31 May 2006 Chorley Womens Refuge Group 5,000 
			 26 June 2006 Euxton Methodist Scout Group 4,983 
			 26 June 2006 Age Concern Chorley 4,137 
			 26 June 2006 Withnell Fold Primary School 4,996 
			 26 June 2006 Chorley Marlins Amateur Swimming Club 5,000 
			 26 June 2006 Mawdesley Equine and People Trust 5,000 
			 26 June 2006 Sea Cadet Corps: Chorley Unit 526 4,750 
			 26 June 2006 Rivington and Blackrod High School 5,000 
			 26 June 2006 Mayfield School 5,000 
			 26 June 2006 St. Michael's and All Angels (Croston) Parish Church 5,000 
			 26 June 2006 Heapey Parish Council 5,000 
			 26 June 2006 Age Concern Lancashire 169,826 
			 26 June 2006 Home-Start Chorley and South Ribble 3,800 
			 11 July 2006 Holy Cross Catholic High School 151,911 
			 26 July 2006 Briary Court and Carr Barn Brow Residents Association 4,869 
			 26 July 2006 Starfish 4,889 
			 31 August 2006 1st Euxton Rof Scout Group 10,000 
			 31 August 2006 Charnock Richard Scarecrow Festival Committee 2,884 
			 31 August 2006 Clayton Thursday Club 6,800 
			 25 September 2006 Chorley and South Ribble M.E. Support Group 5,000 
			 26 September 2006 South Lancashire Arts Partnership 7,500 
			 28 September 2006 Bears Paw Patchers 1,470 
			 3 November 2006 Brothers of Charity Open House 1,850 
			 3 November 2006 Mawdesley Village Planning Committee 5,445 
			 3 November 2006 Black Horse Bowling Club 10,000 
			 3 November 2006 Chorley and District Neighbourhood Watch Association 5,585 
			 3 November 2006 Abbey Village and Brinscall Playgroup 10,000 
			 3 November 2006 Creative Minds 2,800 
			 3 November 2006 Chorley and South Ribble CrossroadsCaring for Carers 4,055 
			 3 November 2006 Chorley Cougars Basketball Club 3,314 
			 23 November 2006 Visual Concepts UK/Martin Talbot 4,250 
			 27 November 2006 Lancashire Care NHS Trust Adult Mental Health In Patient Unit 10,000 
			 27 November 2006 92 (Chorley) Squadron Air Training Corps 3,970 
			 27 November 2006 Blackburn with Darwen Action Learning Network 10,000 
			 27 November 2006 Chorley and District Choral Society 4,240 
			 29 November 2006 South Lancashire Learning Disability Training Consortium 22,692 
			 3 January 2007 Genesis Workshops 10,000 
			 3 January 2007 Withnell Vs Brinscall 9,850 
			 3 January 2007 Vernon Carus Cricket Club 8,000 
			 29 January 2007 Rivington and Blackrod High School 20,500 
			 27 February 2007 Friends of Cuerden Valley Park 3,889 
			 27 February 2007 Chorley Community Music Consortium 4,925 
			 27 February 2007 Positive Action in Chorley East 9,940 
			 8 March 2007 The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside 510,000 
			 27 March 2007 Adlington Canoe Club 2,839 
			 27 March 2007 The Guide Association Lancashire North West 5,000 
			 27 March 2007 St. Joseph's Catholic Primary School 3,052 
			 27 March 2007 St. Michaels C E High School 1,000 
			 27 March 2007 Valley Brass (Haydock) 4,428 
			 27 March 2007 Pendle Community High School 4,350 
			 30 March 2007 Mawdesley Equine and People Trust 5,000 
			 30 March 2007 Hundred Acre Wood Mother and Toddlers 4,008 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 4: 2007-08 
			  Grant date  Recipient  Grant amount () 
			 20 April 2007 Eccleston Heritage Clog 40,700 
			 30 April 2007 Community Leisure Services Ltd. 9,500 
			 30 April 2007 Rural Community Partnership Trust 5,000 
			 30 April 2007 Chorley Cricket Club 3,170 
			 24 May 2007 Saheliyaan Asian Women's Forum 5,000 
			 24 May 2007 Adlington Venture Unit 5,000 
			 24 May 2007 Brindle Historical Society 7,821 
			 24 May 2007 St. Mary's Chorley Scout Group 7,630 
			 24 May 2007 Croston Pre-School 8,231 
			 24 May 2007 Chorley District Scouts 5,000 
			 18 June 2007 Croston St. Michael's Scout Group 1,998 
			 3 July 2007 Chorley Borough Council 208,006 
			 24 July 2007 Eccleston Scout and Guides Group 10,000 
			 24 July 2007 Brothers of Charity Tuesday Club 2,100 
			 27 July 2007 Home-Start Chorley and South Ribble 159,972 
			 14 August 2007 David Alker and Peter Liddell Alker Liddell 1,900 
			 20 August 2007 Balshaw Lane Community Primary School 10,000 
			 20 August 2007 City of Preston High School 6,907 
			 20 August 2007 Home-Start Chorley and South Ribble 6,200 
			 17 September 2007 Named Individual 500 
			 19 September 2007 Rivington and Blackrod High School 433,277 
			 24 September 2007 Chorley and South Ribble CrossroadsCaring for Carers 5,945 
			 24 September 2007 Girlguiding UK Chor Valley District 2,945 
			 17 October 2007 Lancashire College 87,263 
			 23 October 2007 Starfish 4,604 
			 18 December 2007 St Paul's Amateur Players 5,000 
			 18 December 2007 The Friends of Chorley Quad 6,915 
			 21 January 2008 Tatton Community Group 9,700 
			 21 January 2008 Brindle Parish Institute 3,149 
			 21 January 2008 Chorley Challengers Sports Club 9,996 
			 21 January 2008 Cuerden Valley Park Trust 10,000 
			 11 February 2008 Bretherton and Croston Angling Club 6,166 
			 19 February 2008 Chorley Pals Memorial 10,000 
			 19 February 2008 Inward House Community Projects 5,000 
			 19 February 2008 Gillibrand Primary School 10,000 
			 19 February 2008 Rivington and Blackrod High School 3,500 
			 26 February 2008 Paul Gallagher 4,770 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 5: 2008-09 
			  Grant date  Recipient  Grant amount () 
			 7 April 2008 Music and Arts for Chorley Youth (M.A.C.Y.) 3,125 
			 7 April 2008 Rural Community Partnership Trust 4,750 
			 7 April 2008 Chorley Division Rangers 9,780 
			 7 April 2008 Preston Pride Basketball Club 6,850 
			 7 April 2008 Central Lancashire ME/CFS Support Group 6,809 
			 8 April 2008 Tom Bell T/A Reckless Invention 10,435 
			 8 May 2008 The Lancashire Wildlife Trust Ltd. 224,639 
			 8 May 2008 South Ribble BC (South Ribble CSN) 137,610 
			 12 May 2008 Function Room 4,966 
			 12 May 2008 The Hoghton Players Drama Group 5,073 
			 13 May 2008 Lorraine Berry 1,159 
			 30 May 2008 South Ribble BC (South Ribble CSN) 30,000 
			 9 June 2008 Euxton Youth Cricket Academy 7,340 
			 10 June 2008 Rivington and Blackrod High School 4,000 
			 14 July 2008 Chorley Borough Cricket Development Group 9,930 
			 14 July 2008 Coppull Parish Council 9,415 
			 11 August 2008 Mawdesley Millennium Green Trust 6,792 
			 11 August 2008 Croston and District Boules League 2,880 
			 11 August 2008 Adlington and District in Bloom Action Group 4,339 
			 11 August 2008 Hoghton Women's Institute 1,033 
			 15 September 2008 North West Dance Alliance 7,200 
			 15 September 2008 Canon Slade C of E School 8,473 
			 2 October 2008 Maelstrom Dance 7,840 
			 13 October 2008 Chorley Photographic Society 7,896 
			 13 October 2008 Croston Subscription Bowling Club 9,920 
			 13 October 2008 Brinscall and District Drop In 975 
			 13 October 2008 Croston Parish Council 3,600 
			 21 October 2008 The Arts Partnership 20,900 
			 8 December 2008 Southlands High School 5,797 
			 8 December 2008 Grappenhall Hall School 6,775 
			 8 December 2008 Rainbow House For Conductive Education 55,250 
			 19 January 2009 Eccleston Parish Council 7,250 
			 19 January 2009 Rainbow House For Conductive Education 10,000 
			 10 February 2009 Age Concern Lancashire 1,200 
			 10 February 2009 Help The Homeless (Chorley) Ltd. 5,000 
			 10 February 2009 Eaves Green Residents Group 10,000 
			 11 March 2009 Sea Cadet Corps: Chorley Unit 526 6,310 
		
	
	These statistics come from the Department's lottery grants database. The database is searchable at:
	www.lottery.culture.gov.uk
	and uses information on lottery grants supplied by the lottery distributors.

Departmental Travel

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department spent on travel in each year since 1997.

Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has spent the following amounts on overseas and UK travel in each of the last five financial years:
	
		
			   
			  Financial year  Overseas  UK 
			 2004-05 8,114,225.77 866,896.25 
			 2005-06 13,386,273.99 1,153,482.09 
			 2006-07 12,546,595.21 1,146,012.99 
			 2007-08 14,225,775.77 1,159,085.54 
			 2008-09 17,874,037.95 1,779,031.12 
		
	
	The year on year increase in travel costs are largely due to increases in fuel costs over the period affecting ticket prices.
	Obtaining information on costs of travel before this period would incur disproportionate cost.

Sri Lanka: Human Rights

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which countries have informed him of their support for the establishment of an international commission of inquiry into alleged human rights abuses in the Tamil areas of Sri Lanka.

Ivan Lewis: As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has made clear, we fully endorse the EU's calls for an independent inquiry into allegations of violations of international law in the recent conflict in Sri Lanka. It could play an important role in the post-conflict reconciliation process. As such, we welcome the joint statement by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and President Rajapakse of Sri Lanka underlining the importance of an accountability process for addressing possible violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. We will continue to press for progress on this with international partners, above all the EU and UN.

Sri Lanka: Politics and Government

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking in collaboration with  (a) commonwealth governments and  (b) the UN to facilitate a political settlement between the government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil community; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: We remain of the view that lasting peace in Sri Lanka can only be achieved through an inclusive political solution based on equality, consent and rule of law, which satisfies the legitimate aspirations of all Sri Lankan communities. We will continue to press for progress on this, both bilaterally, and with international partners and at the UN.
	We fully endorse the UN Secretary-General's engagement in relation to Sri Lanka and we welcome his joint statement with President Rajapakse of 23 May 2009, in which they agreed the need to address the aspirations and grievances of all communities and working towards a lasting political solution.
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made a statement on Sri Lanka on 19 May 2009,  Official Report, column 73WS.

Syrian Arab Republic: Asylum

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much funding the Government has contributed to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to meet the requirements of Iraqi nationals in Syria for 2009.

Michael Foster: I have been asked to reply.
	The UK Government have contributed 2 million in 2008-09 to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to meet the requirements of Iraqi refugees living outside Iraq in the Middle East region. This funding is not earmarked for specific countries, although official estimates show that the large majority of Iraqi refugees live in Syria.

Departmental Carbon Emissions

James Paice: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate she has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions arising from air travel by staff in her Department in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff.

Angela Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the Cabinet Office autumn performance report 2008 which contains information on the carbon emissions arising as a result of the Department's business air travel. The information is not available per full-time member of staff.
	A copy of the performance report is available at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/reports/psa/autumn_delivery.aspx
	and also in the Library of the House.

Economic and Monetary Union

John Hayes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what activities have been undertaken by her Department's Euro Minister in that capacity.

Angela Smith: As the Cabinet Office Minister with responsibility for euro preparedness I would represent the Department at the Treasury-led Euro Ministers' Steering Group. The group has not met since June 2007.

Employment

James Clappison: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 12 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 479-82W, on employment, how many  (a) UK nationals,  (b) UK-born people,  (c) foreign nationals,  (d) non-UK EU nationals and  (e) non-EU nationals of working age were in employment in (i) the public sector and (ii) the private sector in each of the last eight quarters for which figures are available; and what the percentage change between 1997 and the most recent year for which figures are available was in respect of categories (i) and (ii).

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2009, Official Report, columns 479-82W, on employment, how many (a) UK nationals, (b) UK-born people, (c) foreign nationals, (d) non-UK EU nationals and (e) non-EU nationals of working age were in employment in (i) the public sector and (ii) the private sector in each of the last eight quarters for which figures are available; and what the percentage change between 1997 and the last year for which figures are available was in respect of categories (i) and (ii). (281118)
	The information requested is shown in the attached table. The estimates are derived from the Labour Force Survey. The distinction between public and private sector is based on respondents' views about the organisation for which they work. The public sector estimates provided do not correspond to official Public Sector Employment estimates. Those are derived directly from employers and are based on National Accounts definitions, but do not include a nationality breakdown.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. This is assessed in a footnote to the table.
	The figures in the table are derived from the LFS microdata which are weighted using the official population estimates published in autumn 2007. They are not entirely consistent with the figures published in the monthly Labour Market Statistics Statistical Bulletin, or the migrant worker figures published every quarter, which are weighted using more up-to-date population estimates.
	
		
			  Employment levels for people of working age( 1)  in employment by public and private sector and by nationality and country of birth, three months ending March 1997 and three months ending March, June, September and December, 2007-09, United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted 
			  Thousand 
			   Public sector( 2, 3)  Private sector( 2, 4) 
			   UK nationals  UK born  Non-UK nationals( 6)  Non-UK EU nationals( 7)  Non-EU nationals( 7)  UK nationals  UK born  Non-UK nationals6  Non-UK EU nationals( 7)  Non-EU nationals( 7) 
			 1997 Q1 5,696 5,473 203 88 115 18,657 17,929 690 310 381 
			
			 2007 Q2 6,286 5,976 375 127 248 19,390 18,434 1,715 841 874 
			 2007 Q3 6,214 5,900 367 136 231 19,688 18,681 1,731 830 900 
			 2007 Q4 6,305 5,979 367 148 218 19,618 18,617 1,795 859 936 
			
			 2008 Q1 6,299 5,970 384 136 249 19,447 18,457 1,853 925 928 
			 2008 Q2 6,349 6,025 375 138 236 19,404 18,388 1,872 917 955 
			 2008 Q3 6,293 5,973 373 134 238 19,513 18,493 1,895 906 988 
			 2008 Q4 6,387 6,052 390 124 266 19,245 18,206 1,938 923 1,015 
			
			 2009 Q1(8) *6,443 *6,109 **381 ***113 **268 *18,891 *17,842 *1,919 *979 *940 
			
			 Percentage change between 1997 Q1 and 2009 Q1 13 12 88 n/a n/a 1 0 178 n/a n/a 
		
	
	
		
			  Thousand 
			   Employment( 4, 5) 
			   UK nationals  UK born  Non-UK nationals( 6)  Non-UK EU nationals( 7)  Non-EU nationals( 7) 
			 1997 Q1 24,551 23,589 906 401 505 
			   
			 2007 Q2 25,784 24,508 2,103 969 1,134 
			 2007 Q3 26,023 24,694 2,113 969 1,144 
			 2007 Q4 26,050 24,718 2,173 1,010 1,163 
			   
			 2008 Q1 25,870 24,547 2,254 1,068 1,186 
			 2008 Q2 25,882 24,532 2,266 1,065 1,201 
			 2008 Q3 25,928 24,580 2,279 1,045 1,234 
			 2008 Q4 25,749 24,372 2,342 1,052 1,290 
			   
			 2009 Q1(8) *25,454 *24,067 *2,313 *1,097 *1,215 
			   
			 Percentage change between 1997 Q1 and 2009 Q1 4 2 155 n/a n/a 
			 (1) Men aged 16-64 and women aged 16-59. (2) It should be noted that public and private sector estimates; are based on survey respondents' views about the organisation for which they work; do not correspond to the National Accounts definition used for Public Sector Employment estimates. (3) Includes nationalised industry or state corporation, central Government, civil service, local government or council (incl. police, fire services and local authority controlled schools or colleges), university or other grant funded educational establishment, health authority or NHS trust and armed forces. (4) Includes self-employed and unpaid family workers. (5) Includes those whose type of employer was not known. (6) Excludes those whose nationality was not known. (7) Other EU comprises Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden only in 1997 Q1. Meaningful comparisons between 1997 Q1 and 2009 Q1 are not possible due to the changes in the composition of EU. (8) Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates, as described below:  Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV - for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5% we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220.  Key Coefficient of Variation (CV) (%) Statistical Robustness * 0 = CV5 Estimates are considered precise ** 5 = CV 10 Estimates are considered reasonably precise *** 10 = CV 20 Estimates are considered acceptable **** CV 20 Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes  Note: It should be noted that the above estimates exclude people in most types of communal establishment (e.g. hotels, boarding houses, hostels mobile home sites etc.)  Source: Labour Force Survey

Alcoholic Drinks: Fines

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fines have been issued in each police authority area for refusing to obey an instruction to stop drinking in a Designated Public Place order area in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: The number of fines issued for refusing to obey an instruction to stop drinking in a designated public place order is in the following table.
	PND data are not included in the table. The number of PNDs issued for failure to comply with a requirement by a constable within a designated public place order are as follows: 485 in 2004, 712 in 2005, 1,061 in 2006 and 1,544 in 2007.
	Data for 2008 will be available in autumn 2009.
	
		
			  Number of fines issued and average fine amount by police force area (PFA) for drinking in a designated public place( 1) , 2002-07 
			   2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			  PFA  Fines issued  Average fine ()  Fines issued  Average fine ()  Fines issued  Average fine ()  Fines issued  Average fine ()  Fines issued  Average fine ()  Fines issued  Average fine () 
			 Avon and Somerset 1 60.00 2 30.00 4 42.50 1 10.00 3 41.67 4 96.25 
			 Bedfordshire 2 42.50 12 26.67 2 40.00 9 31.67 5 40.00 4 57.50 
			 Cambridgeshire 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 1 50.00 1 50.00 
			 Cheshire 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 1 50.00 
			 Cleveland 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 5 85.00 6 66.67 
			 Cumbria 1 30.00 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 1 50.00 0 n/a 
			 Derbyshire 0 n/a 0 n/a 1 100.00 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 Devon and Cornwall 1 30.00 4 51.25 4 32.50 3 23.33 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 Dorset 1 50.00 0 n/a 1 100.00 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 Dyfed-Powys 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 1 75.00 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 Essex 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 1 50.00 
			 Gloucestershire 0 n/a 1 25.00 2 20.00 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 Greater Manchester 1 50.00 1 20.00 4 45.00 3 123.33 0 n/a 1 50.00 
			 Gwent 0 n/a 0 n/a 4 107.50 0 n/a 6 37.50 3 83.33 
			 Hampshire 0 n/a 0 n/a 1 50.00 0 n/a 1 100.00 1 80.00 
			 Humberside 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 1 50.00 
			 Kent 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 Lancashire 0 n/a 3 43.33 2 35.00 1 100.00 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 Leicestershire 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 2 45.00 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 Merseyside 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 4 50.00 3 58.33 
			 Metropolitan Police 11 48.18 23 (2)40.00 13 40.38 12 72.92 10 45.50 5 49.00 
			 Norfolk 0 n/a 7 25.71 2 22.50 2 50.00 2 30.00 4 58.75 
			 North Wales 1 30.00 0 n/a 2 75.00 2 75.00 1 50.00 3 60.00 
			 Northumbria 1 50.00 2 105.00 3 76.67 8 62.50 3 50.00 9 50.00 
			 Nottinghamshire 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 1 40.00 2 47.50 
			 South Wales 0 n/a 0 n/a 1 50.00 0 n/a 1 100.00 0 n/a 
			 South Yorkshire 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 1 75.00 2 37.50 
			 Staffordshire 0 n/a 3 25.33 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 Suffolk 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 2 52.50 
			 Sussex 1 50.00 1 20.00 5 55.00 6 43.33 7 37.14 4 37.50 
			 Thames Valley 0 n/a 9 40.00 18 44.17 5 55.00 5 54.00 3 58.33 
			 West Mercia 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 5 118.00 
			 West Midlands 0 n/a 3 43.33 8 53.13 7 65.00 2 27.50 11 50.91 
			 West Yorkshire 0 n/a 1 20.00 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 Wiltshire 0 n/a 0 n/a 1 50.00 1 75.00 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 Total 21 45.95 72 37.17 78 49.94 63 58.57 59 48.98 76 60.92 
			 n/a = Not applicable. (1) Under the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 which came into force on the 1 September 2001, there were no offenders sentenced in 2001. (2) Excludes one fine amount which exceeds the statutory maximum and may be erroneous.  Notes: 1. Where a PFA does not appear in the list there have been no offenders fined in any of the years listed. 2. These data are presented on the principal offence basis. 3. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. 4. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.  Source: OMS Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice.

Antisocial Behaviour

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) dispersal orders,  (b) local child curfew orders,  (c) juvenile curfew orders,  (d) directions to leave,  (e) child safety orders,  (f) designated public place orders,  (g) reprimands,  (h) warnings and  (i) anti-social behaviour orders have been issued in each police force area in each of the last 10 years.

Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
	Information on these orders and disposals is set out as follows:
	 (a) Dispersal orders
	The Home Office have stated that since April 2006, the number of dispersal authorisations by force area has been collected by all forces as part of the Annual Data Requirement (ADR). Data from the ADR exercise for 2006-07 and 2007-08 will be published shortly.
	Prior to 2006 the Home Office conducted three data collection exercises from police forces on dispersal powers. A summary of the results of these exercises was published in the Respect paper Tools and Powers to Tackle Antisocial Behaviour in January 2007 and can be found at:
	www.respect.gov.uk
	 (b) Local child curfew orders
	Information on the number of local child curfew orders is not recorded centrally. It is not thought that any of these curfews have been used and a provision to repeal section 14 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (powers to make local child curfew scheme) has been included in the Police and Crime Bill currently before Parliament.
	 (c) Juvenile curfew orders
	The requested information on juvenile curfew orders from the Ministry of Justice is included in Table A (copies of which are in the House Libraries).
	 (d) Directions to leave
	The information requested on the number of directions to leave issued by the police and arrests for failing to comply with the direction to leave is not collected centrally.
	 (e) Child safety orders
	Information on the numbers of child safety orders issued is not collected centrally.
	 ( f) Designated public p lace o rders (DPPOs)
	The Home Office has been informed that 712 DPPOs have been implemented throughout England and Wales. Data on DPPOs are held by local authority area and cannot be broken down by police force area. Table C contains data on the total number of DPPOs issued by year. A full list of current DPPOs issued is available at:
	www.crimereduction.homeoffice.gov.uk/alcoholorders/alcoholorders09.htm
	 (g) Reprimands and (h) W arnings
	The Ministry of Justice have stated that the number of offenders aged 10 to 17 issued with either a caution (prior to 1 June 2000) or a reprimand or warning (from 1 June 2000) for all offences in England and Wales, by police force area up to 2007 is set out in Table B (copies of which are placed in the House Libraries).
	The figures relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has committed two or more offences at the same time, the principal offence is the more serious offence.
	Reprimand and warning data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
	 ( i) Antisocial behaviour o rders (ASBOs)
	These were introduced on 1 April 1999. The latest available published data provided by the Home Office on the number of ASBOs issued at all courts in England and Wales up to 31 December 2006 is in Table D (copies of which are placed in the House Libraries).

Asylum: Deportation

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unsuccessful asylum seekers deported from the UK were refused entry on arrival at the country of their origin and subsequently returned to the UK in each of the last four years.

Phil Woolas: There are a variety of reasons why a person, during the removals process, may be refused entry to their country of destination. Due to this each case will be handled differently. Generally the person will be returned to the UK and re-enter the removals process.
	The number of individuals refused entry to their destination country is not centrally recorded. The information requested could only be obtained by the detailed examination of individual case records at disproportionate cost.
	The Home Office publishes statistics on the number of persons removed and departed voluntarily from the UK on a quarterly and annual basis.
	National Statistics on immigration and asylum are placed in the Library of the House and are available from the Home Office's Research, Development and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html

Homicide: Peterborough

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of homicide involving a killing by a sharp instrument there have been in Peterborough constituency since 1997.

Alan Campbell: Available information is from the Homicide Index and relates to the number of homicides recorded between 1997-98 and 2007-08.
	Homicide data are not broken down below police force area level. Peterborough is covered by Cambridgeshire police so data for this force have been provided.
	
		
			  Homicides currently recorded( 1)  where apparent method of killing is sharp instrument( 2) , Cambridgeshire police force area and Wales region, 1997-98 to 2007-08 
			  Year( 3)  Number 
			 1997-98 1 
			 1998-99 1 
			 1999-2000 4 
			 2000-01  
			 2001-02 1 
			 2002-03 2 
			 2003-04 5 
			 2004-05 2 
			 2005-06 2 
			 2006-07 2 
			 2007-08 4 
			 (1) As at 4 November 2008; figures are revised as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available. (2) Includes knives as well as other sharp instruments. (3) Offences are shown according to the year in which the police initially recorded the offence as homicide. This is not necessarily the year in which the incident took place or the year in which any court decision was made.

Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many immigration advisers were registered and exempted by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner between 2001 and 2009.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 19 June 2009
	 The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Home Office, and receives and deals with applications from advisers. Those individuals or organisations that charge for their advice and services pay a fee to the OISC to be regulated. Those individuals or organisations that provide advice and services without a charge are exempted from paying a fee to the OISC. No figures for 2001 and 2002 are available. Details of the numbers of advisers for years 2003-09 are:
	
		
			   Registered advisers  Exempted advisers  Total 
			 2001-02(1)
			 2002-03(1)
			 2003-04 499 2,297 2,796 
			 2004-05 1,034 2,291 3,325 
			 2005-06 1,241 2,392 3,629 
			 2006-07 1,770 2,356 3,915 
			 2007-08 1,677 2,395 4,061 
			 2008-09 1,851 2,386 4,199 
			 (1 )Some advisers work for more than one organisation and are counted more than once.

Terrorism

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Office of Security and Counter-Terrorism has taken to develop an appropriate performance framework for counter-terrorism policing; and when he expects the framework to be implemented nationally.

Alan Johnson: We have developed a set of six counter-terrorism policing performance indicators, which were incorporated into the Assessments of Policing and Community Safety (APACS) performance framework and, for the first time, implemented nationally in 2008-09. These cover the extent and quality of local police counter-terrorism related intelligence, the disruption of potential threats, an evaluation of police Prevent programmes, and vulnerabilities around hazardous sites and crowded places. The results are not published, but will provide police forces, police authorities and Government with vital counter-terrorism information.
	This is complemented by current work led by the Association of Chief Police Officers' Terrorism and Allied Matters business area (ACPO (TAM)) to develop a performance framework specifically for the police Counter Terrorism Network, and also by wider guidance being produced by the Association of Police Authorities for the scrutiny of all protective services.

Vetting

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many completed Criminal Records Bureau disclosures which did not contain details of any criminal conviction were issued with notes by a chief police officer in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  how many completed Criminal Records Bureau disclosures which did not contain details of any criminal conviction were issued in each police force area in each of the last 10 years.

Alan Johnson: The overall number of records checks conducted by the police forces which have resulted in such information being released in each year for which records are available can be found in the following table:
	
		
			   Disclosures issued  Disclosures with no LPF info  Disclosures with approved info from LPF 
			 2002-03 1,437,094 1,433,147 3,947 
			 2003-04 2,284,688 2,278,170 6,518 
			 2004-05 2,430,937 2,424,122 6,815 
			 2005-06 2,770,265 2,761,438 8,827 
			 2006-07 3,277,957 3,270,325 7,632 
			 2007-08 3,323,334 3,316,028 7,306 
			 2008-09 3,853,686 3,845,661 8,025 
		
	
	The CRB is unable to provide information broken down by each police force area because several forces may be involved with producing a single Disclosure. Furthermore, data are not available to distinguish between approved or additional information. To explain further, comments from chief police officers can be revealed on the face of a Disclosure as approved information or in rare cases sent separately to the registered body as additional information in the form of a separate letter.
	These figures do not constitute part of National Statistics as they are based on internal management information. The information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols, should be treated as provisional and is subject to change.

Children: Maintenance

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in cases where a private arrangement for child maintenance payments has been agreed between a non-resident parent and the parent with care, what requirement there is to notify the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC); and what mechanism there is for CMEC to ensure that the non-resident parent is paying an appropriate amount to the parent with care.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have therefore asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to my right hon. Friend with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in cases where a private arrangement for child maintenance payments has been agreed between a non-resident parent and the parent with care what requirement there is to notify the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (C-MEC); and what mechanism there is for C-MEC to ensure that the non-resident parent is paying an appropriate amount to the parent with care.
	The Commission's new Child Maintenance Options service is already supporting and guiding parents through the choices they now have in arriving at a child maintenance arrangement best suited to the needs of their familywhether that is a private arrangement or one organised through the statutory service. They do this by ensuring parents understand all the options open to them including the provisions and protections of the statutory scheme. Should parents decide that a private arrangement best meets the needs of their family then there is no requirement for them to notify the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission that they have come to such an agreement. However either parent continues to be free to make an application to the statutory maintenance scheme if their private arrangement breaks down or is no longer satisfactory.
	The primary objective of the Commission is to maximise the number of effective maintenance arrangements for children who live apart from one or both of their parents and it has begun a programme of research, measurement and evaluation to provide robust measures and understand more about the attitudes, behaviours, service needs and expectations of its current and potential future clients.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Children: Maintenance

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission has made of the number of non-resident parents whose maintenance calculation has been made by the Child Support Agency and whose maintenance is paid directly to the parent with care are non-compliant with that calculation.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have therefore asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to my right hon. Friend with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many non-resident parents whose maintenance calculation has been made by the Child Support Agency and whose maintenance is paid directly to the parent with care does the Child Support Agency estimate are non-compliant with that calculation.
	At the end of March 2009 there were around 161,000 cases, where the maintenance calculation has been made by the Child Support Agency and maintenance is paid directly to the parent. These cases are treated as fully compliant.
	The number of parents choosing to pay and receive maintenance direct has grown by 30% over the last three years and is now around 13% of the live caseload. Parents with care are free to return to the collections service should they be no longer satisfied with receiving their maintenance direct. The Agency's latest estimate is that less than 1% of these cases return to the collections service each month.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Children: Maintenance

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  with reference to figure 11 in the National Audit Office report Child Support Agency Implementation of the Child Support Reforms, HC 1174, Session 2005-06, what the figures were for the three types of case in each month since 1993;
	(2)  with reference to figure 12 in the National Audit Office report, Child Support AgencyImplementation of the Child Support Reforms, HC 1174, Session 2005-06, if she will provide the same information in tabulated form for each year since 1993;
	(3)  how many cases registered with the Child Support Agency were  (a) found and  (b) projected to contain maintenance calculation errors in each year since 1993.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 12 June 2009
	The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have therefore asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to my right hon. Friend with the information requested.

Children: Maintenance

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  when the classification of child tax credit as income when calculating the child support payments of a non-resident parent was last reviewed; and when it will next be reviewed;
	(2)  what assessment has been given to the effect on welfare of non-resident parents in assessing child tax credit as income when calculating their child support payments to the parent with child.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have therefore asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to my hon. Friend with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner. The Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission.
	; and
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has been given to the effect on welfare of non-resident parents in assessing child tax credit as income when calculating their child support payments to the parent with child.
	A general review of the statutory child maintenance calculation rules was undertaken prior to the publication of the White Paper A new system of child maintenance in December 2006. The White Paper subsequently set out the change to assessing maintenance based on non-resident parent's gross weekly income currently planned for introduction during 2011. As a result tax credits will not be taken into account in assessing maintenance in the future scheme.
	No assessment of the effect on the welfare of the non-resident parent by including child tax credit as income when calculating child maintenance has been carried out.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Children: Maintenance

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission considers a reduction in the working hours of a non-resident parent grounds for an adjustment to the calculation of child maintenance payments.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 22 June 2009
	 The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have therefore asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to my hon. Friend with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner. The Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission considers a reduction in the working hours of a non-resident parent grounds for an adjustment to the calculation of child maintenance payments.
	It is not the change in working hours which may have an effect on the maintenance assessment; rather it is any change in income. Parents should tell us if the non-resident parent's regular income changes, or if there are any other changes to the information that we used to work out the amount of child maintenance that must be paid. For non-resident parents this includes information relating to: changes of address, the name and address of the employer, your payroll number and the amount you expect to earn. Similarly, parents with care must inform us if there is a change to the number of children living with them for which child maintenance is due, and the number of nights a child stays regularly with the non-resident parent. It is the responsibility of the client to inform us accordingly as to any change of circumstances.
	Not all change of circumstances will mean we need to change the amount of child maintenance due. In cases assessed under the current scheme we may not change the amount of child maintenance if the non-resident parent's regular net weekly income changes by less than 5%.
	For cases assessed under the old scheme, we will, when notified, change the amount of child maintenance that must be paid, if it would change by 10 a week or more, or if we included an amount of 'protected income' last time we worked out how much child maintenance must be paid, and the amount of maintenance the non-resident parent would have to pay would increase by 5 a week or more, or reduce by 1 a week or more.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

State Retirement Pensions

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  with reference to the answer of 28 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 868-69W, on the state retirement pension, if she will revise her estimate of the number of cases of pensioners potentially entitled to lump sum payments of backdated retirement pension through payment of Class 3 National Insurance contributions to take account of pensioners, identified by her Department's special exercise; how much has been paid out in such lump sums to date; to how many people; when she expects to complete this exercise; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  with reference to the answer of 24 November 2008,  Official Report, column 1008W, on state retirement pensions: females, if she will estimate the number of women who will be entitled to a  (a) lump sum pension back payments only,  (b) lump sum back payments and home responsibilities protection (HRP) and  (c) HRP only by the end of the special exercise; and what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse in each case.

Angela Eagle: To date we have paid out 2 million to 2,738 women. As a result of this exercise we estimate around 26,000 women may benefit from paying voluntary contributions, correction of home responsibilities protection or both. For lump sum pension back payment only and home responsibilities protection only we estimate the total costs to the public purse to be between 14 and 16 million in benefit payments. For combined lump sum and home responsibilities protection cases we still do not have sufficient data to be able to reliably extrapolate costs. We expect to complete the exercise by the end of 2009.

Child Minding

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 15 June 2009,  Official Report, column 9, on child care (summer holidays) 
	(1)  what recent assessment he has made of  (a) fall in the number of child minders and  (b) the supply of child care through child minders over the last two quarterly returns;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effect on his Department's records on the number of child care places provided through child minders of recent changes to the methodology used in calculating that number.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 22 June 2009
	 Ofsted publish statistics on a quarterly basis showing the number of child care providers and the number of child care places recorded in the early years register and the general child care register. The latest set of figures showed a modest overall drop in the number of child care providers (-0.8 per cent.) and child minders (-1.6 per cent.), but a rise in the number of places offered by both group child care providers (13 per cent.) and child minders (11 per cent.).
	Recent changes in methodology may have had an impact on these results. Future reports will give a clearer indication of trends.

Children: Day Care

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what criteria apply to the provision of Early Years Foundation Stage learning and development exemptions to childminders; what appeals procedure applies when applications for exemptions are refused; what definition his Department uses of philosophical reasons for exemption; and what assessment has been made of the use of that definition in practice.

Dawn Primarolo: Any early years provider, including child minders, may apply for exemptions where they are temporarily unable to deliver the full EYFS learning and development requirements; or where the established principles which govern their practice conflict with elements of the EYFS learning and development requirements.
	All providers must seek the views of all the parents who have children at the setting and of the local authority and give a clear explanation setting out the rationale for seeking an exemption. Providers should demonstrate that their provision is governed by an established principle if they are applying due to a conflict with the EYFS requirements, evidence may include excerpts from staff handbooks, memorandum and articles of association, or information from the provider's website. All applications are considered on a case by case basis on the information and evidence provided. Further guidance on the exemption process and types of exemptions that can be applied are available on the QCA website:
	www.qca.org.uk/eyfs-exemptions
	There is no appeals process when an application is refused, however providers may resubmit their applications if there has been a change in circumstance or additional evidence is provided that is likely to affect the decision not to grant an exemption or the terms of the exemption.
	We will keep this process under review as further applications come to light. However to date, we have only received one application.

Children: Day Care

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many registered childcare places for children under eight years old there were in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point in (i) 1997 and (ii) each of the last five years.

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not available by parliamentary constituency. Data were collected at local authority level only. Table 1 shows the number of child care places in Essex local authority for 1997. Table 2 and table 3 show the same information for 2004 to 2008 and 2009, respectively. Separate tables have been provided due to changes in Ofsted provider categories.
	
		
			  Table 1: n umber( 1, 2, 3)  of day care places for children under eight years of age by type of provider, Essex local authority area, position at 31 March 1997 
			  Type of provider  Number 
			 Day nurseries 5,600 
			 Playgroups and pre-schools 15,000 
			 Child minders 10,700 
			 Out of school clubs 900 
			 Holiday schemes 2,700 
			 Total 34,900 
			 (1) Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 if under 100, and to the nearest 100 if over 100. (2) Data source: children's day care facilities survey. (3) Figures may not add up to total due to rounding 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: n umber ( 1, 2, 3)  of registered child  care places for children under eight years of age by type of care, Essex local authority area, position at 31 March each year 
			  Type of care  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Full day care 10,200 11,300 11,800 12,700 
			 Sessional day care 10,700 10,300 10,200 9,900 
			 Child minders 7,300 7,900 7,900 7,100 
			 Out of school day care 5,700 6,200 6,000 5,600 
			 Crche day care 900 900 900 800 
			 Total 34,900 36,600 36,800 36,100 
			 (1) Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 if under 100, and to the nearest 100 if over 100. (2) Data Source: Ofsted (3) Figures may not add up to total due to rounding 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: n umber ( 1, 2, 3)  of registered child  care places for children under eight years of age by type of care, Essex local authority area, position at 31 March 2009 
			  Type of care  Number 
			 Child minders 8,300 
			 Child care on non-domestic premises 30,300 
			 Child care on domestic premises 0 
			 Home child carer n/a 
			 Total 38,600 
			 n/a = not available (1) Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 if under 100, and to the nearest 100 if over 100. (2) Data Source: Ofsted (3) Figures may not add up to total due to rounding 
		
	
	Ofsted have collected information on the number of registered child care places available to children aged eight and under on a quarterly basis from March 2003. Their latest figures were published in their report Registered Childcare Providers and Places, March 2009, which is available on their website:
	http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Publications-and-research/Browse-all-by/Documents-by-type/Statistics/Registered-childcare-providers-and-places-in-England-December-2008-onwards

Children: Protection

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department has allocated to local authority child protection services for 2009-10; and what recent steps his Department has taken to protect children from abuse.

Vernon Coaker: Expenditure on children's social care has increased by over 90 per cent. in real terms between 1997-98 and 2008-09, from 2.218 billion in 1997-98 to 5.728 billion, equating to an average real terms increase of 6.1 per cent. per annum. The budgets for 2009-10 have not yet been finalised. It is the responsibility of all partners on children's trusts to assess the adequacy of their funding on children's services.
	The Government are also investing 130 million in social work reform over the full spending review period of which 57.8 million is additional new investment announced on 6 May 2009 as part of The protection of children in England: action planThe Government's response to Lord Laming. This represents a substantial commitment to support the recruitment, training and development of social workers and will significantly increase the capacity of the system to implement change immediately.
	The Government have already implemented significant reforms to safeguard children through Every Child Matters, endorsed by Lord Laming as providing robust legislative, structural and policy foundations which set the right direction and are widely supported. We have also taken action to prevent unsuitable people from working with children by strengthening requirements for CRB checks in education and establishing the Independent Safeguarding Authority, and we are introducing a new, tougher vetting and barring scheme under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006. We have introduced statutory Child Death Review processes, a world first, so that local safeguarding children boards and their partners look across all child deaths in the local area, with the aim of reducing preventable child deaths and we have invested 30 million in the expansion and modernisation of the NSPCC's helpline services.
	As Lord Laming's recent report acknowledges, a great deal of progress has been made but we are determined to do everything possible to protect vulnerable children. That is why the Government have accepted all of Lord Laming's recommendations and have set out a comprehensive action plan in response. This is available from the website at:
	www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/laming

Children's Centres

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many Sure Start centres there are in each local education authority area.

Dawn Primarolo: At the end of April 2009 there were 3,018 Sure Start children's centres across England. By 2010 there will be at least 3,500: one for every community. The information requested on the number of children's centres in each local authority area will be placed in the House Libraries.

Schools: Sport

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding his Department and its predecessors have allocated for the encouragement of physical exercise in schools in  (a) Mid-Bedfordshire constituency and  (b) the East of England in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Iain Wright: The national strategy for PE and sport in schools was introduced in 2003-04. Prior to then, the only funding specifically dedicated for PE and sport from this Department was the additional funding for specialist sports colleges. Other funding for PE and sport was included in the standards fund grants to schools. Dedicated funding for PE and sport from this Department for Mid-Bedfordshire and the East of England has been as follows:
	
		
			  Mid-Bedfordshire 
			   
			   Sports colleges  School sport partnerships  Total 
			 2003-04(1) 189,680 (2) 189,680 
			 2004-05 146,538 151,194 297,732 
			 2005-06 155,904 151,194 307,098 
			 2006-07 152,736 381,463 534,199 
			 2007-08 152,736 380,387 533,123 
			 2008-09 153,381 386,917 540,298 
			 2009-10 151,833 394,177 546,010 
		
	
	
		
			  East of England 
			   
			   Sports colleges  School sport partnerships  Sports facilities grant  Total 
			 1997-98(3) (3)
			 1998-99 182,500   182,500 
			 1999-2000 301,500   301,500 
			 2000-01 815,432   815,432 
			 2001-02 1,663,283   1,663,283 
			 2002-03 2,507,293   2,507,293 
			 2003-04 3,467,024   3,467,024 
			 2004-05 4,408,361 (2)5,408,330  9,816,691 
			 2005-06 4,943,816 8,575,414  13,519,230 
			 2006-07 5,549,469 14,342,900  19,892,369 
			 2007-08 5,894,816 14,888,011  20,782,827 
			 2008-09 6,083,790 16,748,747 (4)1,452,500 24,285,037 
			 2009-10 5,835,975 17,063,137 2,460,000 25,359,112 
			 (1) There were no sports colleges in Mid-Bedfordshire prior to 2003-04. (2) Sport England funded school sport partnerships prior to 2004-05. (3) There were no sports colleges in East of England prior to 1998-99. (4) Sports facilities grant was only in 2008-09 and 2009-10.

Schools: Sport

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding will be provided to  (a) the Association for Physical Education and  (b) other sports professionals for continued professional development under his Department's PE and Sport Strategy for young people in the period 2008-11.

Iain Wright: The Department has allocated funding of 3.1 million per year over the three financial years from 2008-11 for the PE and Sport professional development programme. This programme is being delivered by a consortium made of the Youth Sport Trust, the Association for Physical Education and Sports Coach UK.

Young Offenders

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps his Department is taking to tackle the causes of youth criminality.

Dawn Primarolo: The Youth Crime Action Plan (YCAP), published in July 2008, set out the Government's plans for tackling offending by young people. It detailed our plans for a 'triple track' approach which involves early intervention and prevention, tough enforcement and non-negotiable help and support. It also states our ambition to reduce the rate of young people entering the criminal justice system by one fifth by 2020. This commitment is supported by close to 100 million over three years, in addition to the existing significant investment in children's and youth services, to support local authorities in making inroads into youth crime locally.
	This Department has also invested in local projects to ensure that young people who are issued with antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) or Acceptable behaviour contracts (ABCs) are given follow-up support from a mentor to address the causes of their behaviour and prevent them entering the criminal justice system. Between September 2008 and April 2009 nearly 8,000 young people and families benefited from these Challenge and Support projects in 52 areas.
	As well as reducing antisocial behaviour, the interventions have improved family relationships, school attendance, and young people's involvement in youth activities and reduced homelessness and substance misuse.
	In addition, the Youth Justice Board are investing 32 million this year to deliver targeted prevention programmes such as youth inclusion programmes (YIPs), which are tailor-made programmes for eight to 17-year-olds, who are identified as being at high risk of involvement in offending or antisocial behaviour; multi-agency youth inclusion and support panels (YISPs) to prevent antisocial behaviour and offending by eight to 13-year-olds; and various parenting programmes which provide parents with opportunities to improve their skills in dealing with the behaviour that puts their child at risk of offending. All of these programmes build on the significant investment committed to other wider prevention programmes which make a contribution to preventing young people's involvement in criminal activity in deprived areas. Key examples of this are the work done to help young people take part in structured positive activities and to improve facilities in deprived areas through the Positive Activities for Young People and Myplace programmes and additional parenting support such as the Parenting Early Intervention Programme, Family Intervention Projects and expert parenting practitioners.
	In the three years to 2011, we will also have invested 6 billion through Sure Start towards securing better services for children young people and their families, with an emphasis on the most disadvantaged communities. This includes co-locating services through Sure Start Children's Centres and extended schools.

Banks: Finance

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fees  (a) Barclays Capital,  (b) Goldman Sachs,  (c) HSBC and  (d) the Royal Bank of Scotland received from her Department for taking part in the syndicated Government bond sale of 16 June 2009.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: holding answer 19 June 2009
	The four Lead Managers (Barclays Capital, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and RBS) of the syndicated offering on 16 June of 4.5 per cent. Treasury gilt 2034 each received 3.08 million in fees. Including fees paid to the Co-Lead Managers, total fees paid were 14.0 million.

Child Poverty Bill

Dai Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of the cost of implementing the provisions of the Child Poverty Bill  (a) in Wales and  (b) in total.

Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
	The costs of implementing the Child Poverty Bill are set out in the impact assessment, which was published alongside the Bill on introduction. The impact assessment outlines the increase in public sector administrative costs expected to arise from the Bill, estimated at an annualised average of 7,260,000 in 2008-09 prices. This includes the costs of establishing the Child Poverty Commission and producing a child poverty strategy.
	None of these costs are attributed to delivery in Wales. The Welsh Assembly Government have introduced their own legislation, the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2009 which includes a duty to prepare a Welsh child poverty strategy. The associated costs are set out in the impact assessment published alongside the Measure. Provisions within the Measure, including a duty on Welsh Ministers to prepare a child poverty strategy for Wales, will be financed through the Welsh Assembly's budget.

Departmental Reviews

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many  (a) review and  (b) taskforce projects his Department has commissioned in each of the last five years; what the purpose of each such project is; when each such project (i) began and (ii) was completed; what the cost of each such project was; and if he will make a statement.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Summary information on taskforces and other standing bodies is available in the annual Cabinet Office publication Public Bodies. Copies of Public Bodies 2008 are available in the Libraries of the House. Detailed information on ad hoc advisory bodies is available on Treasury's website. I refer the hon. Gentleman to the following link, which contains details on Treasury's independent reviews:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/independent_reviews_index.htm

EU Budget

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions his Department has had at EU level on the contents of the National Audit Office's 2009 report on financial management in the European Union.

Ian Pearson: HM Treasury have had no discussions on this annual National Audit Office report to Parliament. HM Treasury does, however, see and comment on the draft of the report before it is published.

EU Budget: Contributions

John Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of his Department's officials work on calculating the UK's fortnightly payment to the European Communities budget; and how much the last such payment was.

Ian Pearson: Treasury officials, and officials in HM Revenue and Customs, calculate and check the twice monthly UK contributions to the EC Budget as a part of their overall job remit. The latest UK payment was made on 22 June and was 161,264,379.67.

Personal Savings

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent steps he has taken to safeguard the savings of  (a) pensioners and  (b) those on fixed incomes.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Since 1997, the Government's savings strategy has focused on developing better incentives for saving, ensuring people have the capability to make the right savings decisions for them, and that they have access to appropriate savings opportunities. To support this strategy, the Government have introduced a range of incentives to save, including ISAs. ISAs are extremely popular and are held by over 18 million people. The tax relief given through ISAs amounted to an estimated 2.4 billion in 2007-08.
	The Government are also committed to supporting pensioners through the global economic downturn, providing support for all and more for those who need it most. To provide additional support, Budget 2009 announced a package of measures to support pensioners who receive income from savings. From October 2009 the annual ISA investment limits will rise for people aged 50 and over to 10,200, of which up to 5,100 can be held in cash. In November 2009 the capital disregard in pension credit and pensioner-related housing and council tax benefit will increase, meaning the first 10,000 of capital will not be included when calculating someone's entitlement for these income-related benefits. Budget 2009 also announced a new tax back campaign to contact pension credit recipients to encourage them to claim back tax they may have overpaid on their savings income and, where possible, register to receive interest on their savings tax-free in future.
	The Government have taken a range of measures to strengthen financial stability and improve protection for savings. These include bringing in a new Banking Act, which provides for new arrangements for the resolution of banks in distress, and for a new insolvency procedure for winding up failed banks which focuses on ensuring the rapid payout of compensation to, or the speedy transfer of the deposits of, retail depositors.

Private Rented Housing

Mark Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations the Treasury has received against changes to the furnished home letting rules.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Treasury receives representations on a range of issues. As was the case with the previous Administration, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of such representations.

Taxation: Foundry Sand

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to change the level of taxation on waste foundry sand; and if he will make a statement.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The disposal of used foundry sand to landfill is currently able to benefit from the lower rate of landfill tax. Used foundry sand, and other wastes, were established as lower rated in 1996 on the basis of the then understanding that they were not active and their landfilling results in a relatively lower level of environmental impact.
	At Budget 2009, the Government published a consultation document, Modernising Landfill Tax Legislation which proposes, inter alia, that, in order to strengthen the environmental integrity of the tax, the benefit of the lower rate should be restricted to those wastes which are inert according to the tests provided for at a European level which post-date the establishment of lower rated wastes. The consultation document also seeks views on whether environmental criteria other than inertness should be taken into account when deciding whether a waste might be lower rated. It identified used foundry sand as a waste that would cease to be lower rated if inertness were the only criterion. Comments on the proposals are welcomed by the consultation deadline of 24 July 2009.

VAT: Channel Islands

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the revenue that would accrue to the Exchequer from applying the value added tax regime in force on the mainland to goods brought in from the Channel Islands.

Stephen Timms: Travellers to the UK from the Channel Islands are entitled to bring in up to 340 of goods VAT-free. No estimate has been made of the resultant cost of the VAT foregone.
	Goods supplied to UK consumers from the Channel Islands benefit from low value consignment relief and are not subject to UK VAT if they are valued at under 18. The latest estimate of the cost of this relief in respect of supplies from the Channel Islands of around 80 million for 2007-08 was set out in the answer I gave on 12 February 2009,  Official Report, column 2148W.

Council Housing: Finance

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 7 May 2009,  Official Report, column 383W, on council housing, how much was spent under each budgetary heading on each  (a) stakeholder workshop and  (b) regional event; and how many people attended each event.

Ian Austin: There have been three workshops for each of the four work streams within the review. Attendances were:
	
		
			   1st workshop  2nd workshop  3rd workshop 
			 Costs and standards 23 19 23 
			 Rents and service charges 27 25 18 
			 Funding mechanisms 26 20 23 
			 HRA rules 27 27 20 
		
	
	10 of the workshops were held in my Department's headquarters and the cost of catering was on average 207.22 per event.
	One of the workshops was hosted and paid for by a stakeholder organisation.
	The remaining workshop was held in a hired venue and the cost was 1,226.00 including catering.
	There were three regional events, two in Bristol and Birmingham, held in Government offices for the regions, and one in London, held in departmental headquarters. Attendance in Bristol and Birmingham was 31 and 28 respectively. Attendance in London is not recorded but the event was a similar size to the others. There is no separate record of catering costs, but arrangements were on a similar scale to the workshops.
	There were two seminars for regional and national tenant organisations, both held at departmental headquarters. Attendance was 28 and 19 respectively. The cost of catering for the regional event was 275.20. Catering costs for the national event are not held separately but the figure would have been slightly less than for the regional event. Tenants' travel expenses to London were reimbursed. A precise figure for expenses for this purpose is not available, but the total is approximately 3,600.

Council Tax

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will publish a summary of representations received by his Department on council tax in the last three years.

Rosie Winterton: Communities and Local Government only publishes summaries of representations which are received in response to public consultations.
	There have been two public consultations regarding council tax in the past three years and a summary of responses, for each consultation, is published on the Communities and Local Government website. The following consultations have taken place:
	Inclusion of Efficiency Information with Council Tax Demand Notices: Consultation (3 September 2008)summary of responses available at:
	www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/counciltaxefficiencyresponse
	Amendments to council tax and non-domestic rates secondary legislation (8 August 2006)summary of responses available at:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20081205143343/
	http://communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/amendmentscouncil2

Housing: Construction

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many expressions of interest were received by the Homes and Communities Agency in relation to the Kickstart Housing Delivery programme before 8 June 2009; and how many were from  (a) arm's-length management organisations,  (b) registered social landlords and  (c) private sector developers;
	(2)  how many applications for funding support via the Kickstart Housing Delivery programme have been received in each region;
	(3)  how many bidders for funding under the Kickstart Housing Delivery programme have applied for  (a) equity and  (b) loan investment support;
	(4)  how many and what proportion of bidders for funding from the Kickstart Housing Delivery programme have applied for support via  (a) Affordable Housing Grant,  (b) Investment Support and  (c) Homebuy Direct; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  how much has been applied for by bidders under the Kickstart Housing Delivery programme has been to date.

John Healey: The HCA are assessing the bids received; we will publish such data shortly.

Housing: Construction

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what role regional development agencies will play in the distribution of funding via the Kickstart Housing Delivery programme.

John Healey: RDAs will play no formal role in the distribution of funding via the Kickstart Housing Delivery programme. However, part of the assessment of bids includes an assessment of the schemes' contribution to spatial or other regional programmes and priorities.

Housing: Construction

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the likely total cost of the due diligence process for the Homes and Communities Agency in respect of the operation of the Kickstart Housing Delivery programme.

John Healey: The estimated cost for the due diligence process for the HCA in respect of the Kickstart Housing Delivery programme is 2,550,000.

Housing: Energy

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what  (a) assistance and  (b) incentives there are to (i) build and (ii) upgrade homes to energy-efficient standards.

John Healey: Government are supporting the transition to low and zero carbon new build homes by providing funding for the Zero Carbon Hub, a not for profit company formed to guide, monitor and co-ordinate the zero carbon homes programme. In 2008-09, the Department provided approximately 250,000 grant funding towards the hub to help with set-up costs.
	Stamp duty relief for zero carbon homes was announced in Budget 2007 to act as an incentive to developers of new zero carbon homes. The exemption covers the first acquisition of a zero carbon home costing up to 500,000. For homes costing in excess of 500,000 there will be a reduction of 15,000. The exemption is in place for a period of five years ending on 30 September 2012.
	Government currently assist householders looking to retrofit their homes by providing: information on current energy performance through energy performance certificates; advice on what can be done and how to do it through funding of the Energy Saving Trust; and help with financing new measures through initiatives such as Decent Homes, the Landlords Energy Saving Allowance, and the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target supplier obligation scheme.
	The Department of Energy and Climate Change will be establishing feed-in tariffs in 2010 and the Renewable Heat Incentive in 2011, to incentivise uptake of low carbon and renewable heat and energy production. The roll-out of smart meters to homes will increase awareness of the energy people use and potentially the money they waste, further incentivising energy saving.
	Government are currently assessing responses to the Heat and Energy Saving Strategy consultation, which set out the Government's long-term plans for assisting and incentivising householders and landlords to improve the energy efficiency of their properties. A summary of responses will be published alongside the Government's response later this year.

Local Government: Public Participation

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent research his Department has commissioned on public involvement in its policy formulation at a local and regional level; and what steps his Department is taking to increase public involvement in its policy formulation.

Rosie Winterton: Details of research projects commissioned by Communities and Local Government and its predecessors are available from our research database (RD) at
	http://www.rmd.communities.gov.uk/
	The database provides information on projects commissioned by Communities and Local Government and predecessor Departments going back to 30 November 2001. This includes the subject and cost of each research contract.
	The Department involves the public in policy development in those public policy areas where we lead. This includes a range of methods including public consultation, market research, polling, and focus groups. More generally, it has been this Department's policy to increase public engagement and involvement with decision making at each level of Government. The first major government policy statement on empowering people (Communities in control: real people, real power White Paper, published in July 2008) has been a very significant step in transferring power to citizens and communities. The recently published Communities progress report provides a summary of the progress made in delivering the various White Paper commitments and the actions that are still to be implemented. This document can be found at
	www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/communitiesprogressreport

Mayors

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of the merits of direct elections of local authority mayors.

Rosie Winterton: On 5 October 2007, the Department published the final report of the five year Evaluating Local Governance (ELG) research, which looked at the impact of the changes introduced in the Local Government Act 2000including the directly elected mayoral model of governance.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people have  (a) applied for and  (b) been refused assistance through the Mortgage Rescue Scheme in each month since its inception.

John Healey: The Mortgage Rescue Scheme has been operational across England since January 2009. As part of the monitoring arrangements for the scheme, headline data for January-April 2009, provided by local authorities operating the scheme and broken down by Government office region, are available on the Department's website. The figures can be assessed using the following link:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/mortgagerescuestatistics.
	At Budget 2009 it was announced that the Mortgage Rescue Scheme would be expanded to include some households previously excluded due to negative equity. We have also reviewed and raised the regional property price caps. These changes came into effect from 1 May.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people have  (a) applied for,  (b) been granted and  (c) been refused assistance under the Mortgage Rescue Scheme in (i) England and (ii) Peterborough constituency in each month since its inception.

John Healey: The Mortgage Rescue Scheme has been operational across England since January 2009. As part of the monitoring arrangements for the scheme, headline data for January-April 2009, provided by local authorities operating the scheme and broken down by Government office region, are available on the Department's website. The figures can be assessed using the following link:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/mortgagerescuestatistics.
	At Budget 2009 it was announced that the Mortgage Rescue Scheme would be expanded to include some households previously excluded due to negative equity. We have also reviewed and raised the regional property price caps. These changes came into effect from 1 May.
	According to our records, Peterborough city council has not submitted monitoring statistics since the inception of the scheme in January 2009, so we are unable to provide the information requested about Peterborough at this time.

Planning Obligations

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make it his policy to instruct local authorities to make public  (a) monies received through planning obligations and  (b) the distribution of such funding.

Ian Austin: The Government already recommends, through policy on the use of planning obligations set out in Circular 05/2005: Planning Obligations and in related guidance Planning Obligations: Practice Guidance, that local planning authorities should keep accurate records of developer contributions which can be used to provide information to the public. Both publications are available on the Department's website.

Regional Government: Manpower

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many staff there were in each  (a) policy and  (b) locality division in each regional Government office in each year from 2001-02 to 2008-09; and how much was paid in bonuses to staff in each such division in each of those years.

Rosie Winterton: We cannot provide the requested breakdown of Government Office staff numbers or paid staff bonuses as this information has not been collected at divisional level.
	We can provide a breakdown of the total number of staff in each regional Government Office per financial year from 2001-02 to 2008-09.
	
		
			  (a) Staff numbers 
			  GO (April)  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 East 189 202 250 292 284 272 221 200 
			 East Midlands 231 251 288 312 299 271 219 204 
			 London 312 303 350 377 340 289 244 243 
			 North East 263 291 308 344 336 310 260 242 
			 North West 389 333 376 388 373 365 288 258 
			 South East 269 305 303 346 342 303 276 252 
			 South West 269 296 311 369 354 317 269 238 
			 West Midlands 304 292 339 344 333 288 254 240 
			 Yorks and Humber 266 276 290 324 309 289 239 218 
		
	
	The following table details the amount paid in staff bonuses in the regional Government Offices for the financial years 2004-05 to 2008-09. Staff bonus information for the financial years 2001-02 to 2003-04 is not available as it pre-dates our current accounting system.
	
		
			  (b) Staff bonuses paid 
			   
			  GO  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 East 67,548 68,863 129,458 138,504 123,738 
			 East Midlands 64,891 82,182 129,472 142,354 104,990 
			 London 119,971 133,102 179,890 236,604 176,498 
			 North East 76,938 83,887 114,998 167,244 125,138 
			 North West 96,600 142,036 175,544 2?6,331 172,830 
			 South East 96,521 154,367 139,396 191,291 152,973 
			 South West 84,816 44,737 146,415 181,338 146,185 
			 West Midlands 110,053 122,006 134,693 204,615 160,573 
			 Yorks and Humber 90,228 104,977 142,979 178,320 140,729

Right To Buy Scheme

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how much right to buy receipts were in each year since 1997; and how much of them was retained by local authorities in each year;
	(2)  how much accrued to the Exchequer from Right to Buy receipts in each year between 1997-98 and 2004-05.

Ian Austin: The following table shows the level of receipts received by local authorities arising from right to buy (RTB) sales.
	
		
			  Financial year  RTB receipts ( million) 
			 1997-98 890 
			 1998-99 911 
			 1999-2000 1,374 
			 2000-01 1,426 
			 2001-02 1,566 
			 2002-03 2,210 
			 2003-04 2,936 
			 2004-05 2,575 
			 2005-06 1,544 
			 2006-07 1,145 
			 2007-08 934 
			 2008-09 (1) 
			 (1 )Final figures not yet available. 
		
	
	Local authorities retain 25 per cent. of the proceeds from RTB sales, but the Department does not hold records of these amounts. The data provided to the Department by local authorities may include figures for other relevant consents and so it is not possible to provide an accurate split between the proportion of receipts retained by the authority and that collected by the Department.
	However, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Wright) on 27 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1118W. This states the total amount of local authority housing receipts which have been transferred to the Exchequer since 01 April 2004.

Social Rented Housing: Construction

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the average grant per unit from the 100 million fund for local authorities to build social homes in 2009-10.

Ian Austin: Our estimation, at this very early stage of the programme, is approximately 55,000 grant per home, with the expectation that the local authority might borrow a further 55,000 per home to complete a development.

Social Rented Housing: Copeland

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department plans to take to meet the demand for social rented housing in Copeland.

Ian Austin: Copeland has been allocated over 1.2 million from the Homes and Communities Agency's 2008-11 Affordable Housing Programme to build 31 additional affordable homes, of which 23 will be for rent.

Social Rented Housing: Tamworth

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department plans to take to meet demand for social rented housing in Tamworth constituency.

Ian Austin: The Department does not itself directly take steps to match demand for social rented housing in local authorities. We encourage authorities to assess the housing needs of their area as part of their strategic housing role and then work in partnership with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and local registered social landlords (RSLs) to deliver the required number of homes through our National Affordable Housing Programme (NAHP). This has already delivered 1.296 million of funding in 2008-09 for two schemes in Tamworth for rent and low cost home ownership.
	Nationally, The HCA has an additional 635 million from the April 2009 Budget to stimulate the housing market, including Kickstart Housing Delivery and funding for local authorities to deliver new council housing. The funding, announced in the 2009 budget, will allow councils to bid to deliver up to 900 new homes, building on their own land. Homes will be for social rent, built to high environmental standards. The first bidding round for this is currently under way and successful bidders will be announced in September. Tamworth could submit a bid for their funding if they so wished.

Temporary Accommodation: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many households were in temporary accommodation in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point in each of the last five years; and what the average time spent in such accommodation was.

Ian Austin: Information about English local housing authorities' actions under the homelessness legislation (part 7 of the Housing Act 1996) is collected quarterly at local authority level.
	Data collected include the number of households accepted by local housing authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and therefore owed a main homelessness duty (to secure that suitable accommodation is available). If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority must secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes so.
	The number of households housed in temporary accommodation by local authorities as at the last day of each quarter, is also recorded. This figure consists of those households which have been accepted as owed the main homelessness duty; those for which inquiries are pending; those being accommodated for a limited period because they have been found intentionally homeless and in priority need; those being accommodated pending possible referral to another authority; and those being accommodated pending the outcome of a local authority review or county court appeal.
	Summary tables including the total number of households in temporary accommodation arranged by each local authority as at the end of each year between 1997-98 and 2008-09 (TA by LA), have been deposited in the Library.
	The county of Essex includes the following local authorities: Basildon, Braintree, Brentwood, Castle Point, Chelmsford, Colchester, Epping Forest, Harlow, Maiden, Rochford, Tendring, Uttlesford; and the unitary authorities, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock.
	We do not collect centrally the average time spent in temporary accommodation for these households.

Maternity Services

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his most recent assessment is of the adequacy of the level of provision of maternity services in  (a) Peterborough constituency and  (b) England.

Ann Keen: In 2008, the Healthcare Commission published 'Towards better births, a review of maternity services in England' which assessed the quality, capability and efficiency of maternity services in England.
	Peterborough primary care trust commissions most of its maternity services from Peterborough and Stamford hospitals national health service foundation trust. The caesarean section rate is one of the lowest in the country.

Maternity Services

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the adequacy of maternity services in  (a) Kettering constituency and  (b) England.

Ann Keen: In 2008, the Healthcare Commission published 'Towards better births, a review of maternity services in England' which assessed the quality, capability and efficiency of maternity services in England.
	Kettering General Hospital NHS foundation trust is currently considering the feasibility of designating part of its existing midwifery unit as a midwife led unit, to increase the range of choices offered to women.

NHS Targets

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the use of targets in raising standards of care in the NHS.

Mike O'Brien: Supported by this Government's historic levels of sustained investment, the national health service has delivered significant improvements in patient care and experience. A small number of national targets, focused on the things that matter most to patients, have helped achieve thisproviding cleaner hospitals; shorter waits for treatment; and shorter waits in accident and emergency.

Thalidomide

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward proposals for a new compensation scheme for thalidomide victims in cases where the drug was prescribed on the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: Thalidomide victims are already compensated through a private settlement, agreed between the Thalidomide Trust and Diageo plc.
	It is the Department's long-standing policy not to make ex-gratia payments to patients whose health has been adversely affected by the use of pharmaceutical products. Responsibility rests with the pharmaceutical company concerned.

Physical Activity: Young People

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to promote physical activity to maintain health among young people; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Department's 75 million Change4Life campaign will help every family in England do more physical activity. We are also contributing to a series of cross-government initiatives to promote physical activity in children and young people, including Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives, Healthy Schools, the Travelling to School Initiative, Healthy Further Education and Free Swimming.

Nurses' Pay

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of levels of pay for nursing staff in the NHS.

Ann Keen: The pay of nursing staff in the national health service is covered by the independent NHS Pay Review Body. The review body takes evidence from the Government, trade unions and NHS Employers before making their recommendations about pay awards. Last year, the NHS Pay Review Body's recommendation of a 2.75 per cent. pay award for 2008-09 was accepted in full by the Government as part of a three-year pay deal which included headline awards of 2.4 per cent. for 2009-10 and 2.25 per cent. for 2010-11. In December 2008, the NHS Pay Review Body decided not to seek a remit to review this year's 2.4 per cent. headline pay uplift for nursing staff and others on the same NHS pay system.

Dementia Care

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his most recent assessment is of the performance of dementia care services in  (a) East Devon constituency and  (b) England.

Phil Hope: The Department has made no specific assessment of the performance of dementia care services in East Devon constituency.
	However, the National Dementia Strategy for England was published on 3 February to improve services for people with dementia and their carers. The strategy is backed by 150 million funding and will focus on three key areas in relation to dementia services: improved awareness, earlier diagnosis and intervention, and a higher quality of care.

Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women aged  (a) under 16,  (b) 16 to 18,  (c) 19 to 24,  (d) 25 to 29, (e) 30 to 34,  (f) 35 to 39 and  (g) over 40 years of age in (i) Essex Strategic Health Authority and (ii) England who had (A) no children, (B) one child, (C) two children, (D) three children, (E) four children and (F) five or more children had an abortion in 2008.

Gillian Merron: The information requested is shown in the following tables.
	
		
			  Number of abortions by parity and age for Essex PCTs( 1)  and for England, residents, 2008 
			   Number of previous live or stillborn pregnancies 
			  Essex PCTs( 1)  0  1  2  3  4  5 or more  Total 
			 Total 2,842 1,031 960 445 113 47 5,438 
			 
			 Under 19 846 (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) 897 
			 19 to 24 1,245 (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) 1,856 
			 25 to 29 432 249 237 103 (2) (2) 1,055 
			 30 to 34 182 195 233 131 (2) (2) 787 
			 35 to 39 104 106 224 112 30 16 592 
			 40 and over 33 43 97 49 15 14 251 
		
	
	
		
			   Number of previous live or stillborn pregnancies 
			  England  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7 or more  Total 
			 Total 97,003 37,739 31,452 13,304 4,527 1,453 478 262 186,218 
			   
			 Under 16 3,862 (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) 3,884 
			 16 to 18 22,803 (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) 25,115 
			 19 to 24 41,948 14,971 6,106 1,370 (2) (2) (2) (2) 64,705 
			 25 to 29 17,209 9,662 8,317 3,521 994 266 (2) (2) 40,057 
			 30 to 34 6,990 5,813 7,649 3,530 1,306 432 139 77 25,936 
			 35 to 39 3,155 3,681 6,343 3,281 1,283 466 182 106 18,497 
			 40 and over 1,036 1,470 2,867 1,581 679 251 88 52 8,024 
			 (1) Totals shown relate to PCTs for Mid Essex, North East Essex, South East Essex, South West Essex and West Essex. (2) Suppressed total less than 10 (0 to 9) or where a presented total would reveal a suppressed value.

Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department  (a) has commissioned,  (b) plans to commission and  (c) has evaluated on the reasons for trends in the abortion rate in England in 2007 and 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: No research has been commissioned or is planned in this specific area and no future forecast of abortion rates has been made.
	The reasons women seek an abortion are complex and may be subject to a number of different factors. It is difficult to attribute any changes to one intervention or event.
	Contraception plays a vital role in preventing unintended pregnancy. Last year, the Government invested 26.8 million and has made a further 20.5 million available this year to improve women's access to contraception and help reduce the number of abortions, repeat abortions and teenage pregnancies. In addition, from 1 April 2009, contracts for national health service funded abortions include a requirement for providers to discuss and provide contraception for their clients.

Community Hospitals

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding he expects to be allocated to community hospitals under the Community Hospitals Fund in the next 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: To date, 28 schemes have been awarded funding, totalling around 250 million and the following table sets this out in more detail.
	
		
			  Current approved schemes 
			  Strategic health authority  Primary care trust (PCD  Scheme  Department of Health funding ( million rounded) 
			 North East Sunderland Teaching Washington Primary Care Centre 8.9 
			 North East Hartlepool Hartlepool Primary Care Facility 3.0 
			 North West Stockport St. Thomas' 26.6 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Calderdale PCT, Kirklees PCT Calderdale and Kirklees Community Services 13.8 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Rotherham Rotherham Primary Care Centre 1.0 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber North Yorkshire and York Selby Health and Community Campus 13.0 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber East Riding of Yorkshire East Riding Community Hospitals (Beverley, Hornsea and Driffield) 17.0 
			 East Midlands Nottingham County Teaching Ashfield Community Hospital 1.149 
			 West Midlands Worcestershire Malvern Community Hospital 19.2 
			 East of England Suffolk Felixstowe General Hospital 1.8 
			 London Haringey Hornsey Community Hospital 1.76 
			 London Barking and Dagenham Barking Hospital 5.0 
			 London Richmond and Twickenham Teddington Health and Social Care Centre 4.0 
			 London Barnet Finchley Memorial Hospital 9.9 
			 London Kensington and Chelsea St. Charles Hospital 10.5 
			 London Greenwich Eltham and Mottingham Hospital 4.6 
			 South East Coast Hastings and Rother Hastings Primary Health Care Centre 12.3 
			 South East Coast Eastern and Coastal Kent Health and Social Care Centre at Kings Avenue, Ashford, Kent 9.0 
			 South Central Hampshire Gosport War Memorial Hospital 6.1 
			 South Central Southampton Royal South Hants Hospital 6.1 
			 South Central Portsmouth City Teaching St. Mary's Community Hospital 17.1 
			 South Central Buckinghamshire Thame 4.0 
			 South West South Gloucestershire Yate Community Health Centre 5.0 
			 South West Somerset Minehead Healthy Living Park 24.5 
			 South West Bristol South Bristol Community Hospital 3.9 
			 South West Bath and North East Somerset Keynsham Health Park 5.8 
			 South West Gloucestershire Berkeley Vale 6.4 
			 South West Gloucestershire North Cotswolds 13.2 
			 Total Department of Health funding   c. 250

Departmental Data Protection

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many notifications his Department made to the Information Commissioner in the year ended 30 April 2009 in respect of the loss or mishandling of personal information or data; what was notified in each such case; and how many individuals were the subjects of personal information or data in respect of which such notifications were made;
	(2)  how many officials in  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies have been (i) disciplined and (ii) dismissed for (A) breaches of data protection requirements and (B) inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data in the last 12 months.

Mike O'Brien: Under the mandatory requirements of the Data Handling Report published on 25 June 2008, the Department is required to give a summary report on data breaches reported to the Information Commissioner in our annual resource accounts.
	The Department reported on personal data breaches in the 2007-08 annual resource account and this can be found at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/DH_089421
	The Department had no reportable losses or other incidents involving personal information in the year ended 30 April 2009 and therefore made no notifications to the Information Commissioner.
	In the past 12 months, no member of the Department's staff has been disciplined or dismissed for breaches of data protection requirements or inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data.
	Similarly, no disciplinary actions for these reasons have been carried out in the Department's agenciesPurchasing and Supply Agency and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agencyin the past year.
	Information is a key asset to Government and their correct handling is vital to the delivery of public services and to the integrity of Her Majesty's Government. The Security Policy Framework and the Data Handling Report produced by the Cabinet Office provide a strategic framework for protecting information that Government handles and put in place a set of mandatory measures which Departments must adhere to.

Departmental Marketing

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which  (a) companies,  (b) consultancies and  (c) other external firms have been contracted to review his Department's advertising in the last 10 years; and at what cost in each case.

Phil Hope: The Department has not contracted any companies, consultancies or other external firms to review its advertising programme in the last 10 years.

Departmental Pay

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in his Department are paid an annual salary of more than 100,000.

Phil Hope: There were 71 senior civil servants in the Department who earned a salary of over 100,000 at 1 April 2008. Salary includes base pay and all pay-related allowances. Further details are available in the departmental report 2009, which was published on 11 June 2009.

Departmental Public Relations

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what each  (a) of his Department's arms length bodies,  (b) strategic health authority and  (c) special health authority has spent on public affairs consultancy in each of the last 10 years.

Phil Hope: The information for strategic health authorities is not held centrally.
	The information for arms length bodies (ALBs), including special health authorities (SpHAs), is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Expenditure 
			   
			  ALB's  (including SpHAs)  1999-2000  2000-01  2000-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Appointments Commission Not in existence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Alcohol Education and Research Council 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence Not in existence This information is not available centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost 
			 General Social Care Council Not in existence 0 5,699 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Health Protection Agency Not in existence 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority This information is not available centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost 
			 Human Tissue Authority Not in existence 0 0 0 0 
			 Information Centre(1) Not in existence 0 83,637 34,639 81,427 
			 Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency Not in existence 0 0 34,000 34,000 0 0 
			 Monitor-Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts Not in existence 0 0 0 0 0 49,700 
			 NHS Business Services Authority(1) Not in existence 0 0 0 0 
			 NHS Blood and Transplant(1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11,461 26,176 
			 NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement(1) Not in existence 0 0 0 
			 NHS Litigation Authority(1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency Not in existence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 NHS Professional(1) Not in existence 0 0 0 0 0 
			 National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence(1) This information is not available centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost 
			 National Patient Safety Agency(1) Not in existence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 National Treatment Agency for substance Misuse(1) Not in existence 0 0 0 1,657 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board Not in existence 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 (1) Denotes a special health authority.

Health Services: Technology

Stephen Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the proposals in the Digital Britain report for development of telecare and assistive technology; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: Our Departments work closely together on the development of telecare and assistive technology. The Digital Britain Report highlights assisted living as a key example of communications-enabled innovation. This is supported by the Technology Strategy Board through its assisted living innovation platform.
	Officials from both the Department of Health and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills sit on the Assisted Living Innovation Platform Steering Board to ensure that applied research addresses the needs of public service delivery within a developing digital infrastructure. The Department's whole system demonstrator programme is testing the effectiveness of current assisted living technologies. The challenges identified by this programme have a direct influence on the targeting of research within the assisted living innovation platform.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 7 May 2009,  Official Report, column 341W, on in vitro fertilisation: standards, what assessment he has made of the level of compliance of assisted fertility centres with the requirements of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority in respect of witnessing clinical and laboratory practices during in vitro fertilisation treatment; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that the compliance of individual assisted fertility centres with the authority requirements in respect of witnessing clinical and laboratory practices is assessed in the course of an inspection and the findings documented in the inspection report. Compliance is assessed for individual clinics on a case by case basis.
	The HFEA's report Focus on Improvement comments on licensed clinics' performance between April 2006 and March 2007. The report is available on the HFEA's website at:
	www.hfea.gov.uk/docs/Focus_on_improvement_report_final2.pdf

Learning Disability

Stephen Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on social care for people with a learning disability in 2008-09.

Phil Hope: Data on local authority expenditure on state funded social care are collected and published by the NHS Information Centre for health and social care.
	The gross current expenditure for adults aged 18 to 64 with learning disabilities in England during 2007-08 was 3,450 million.
	Expenditure data for adults aged 65 or over with learning disabilities are not collected centrally.
	Data for 2008-09 are not yet available.

Maternity Services

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much of the 330 million three-year allocation for improvements to maternity services was committed in 2008-09.

Ann Keen: The 330 million that is being made available over three years is included in primary care trust (PCT) baseline allocations. These allocations are not ring-fenced, and PCTs are able to determine how best to deliver national requirements and local priorities including how much to invest in particular services. The amount of expenditure that has been committed to maternity services is therefore determined by the national health service locally and not the Department. Data on total expenditure on maternity in 2008-09 are not yet available until the autumn.

Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency: Pay

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was paid in bonuses to  (a) directors,  (b) senior managers,  (c) specialist and delivery managers and  (d) executive support and administration staff in the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) does not hold the information in the categories of staff requested. The following information is based on staff bonuses received by staff at senior civil service (SCS) grades and grades below SCS (Non SCS). Data for 2004-05 are unavailable.
	
		
			   
			  Category  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Performance Bonus (SCS including Directors) n/a 254,568 342,597 593,724 780,160 
			 Performance Bonus (Non SCS) n/a n/a n/a n/a (1)41,611 
			 Bonus in lieu of salary increase (Non SCS) n/a 12,946 12,279 18,813 16,889 
			 Special Bonus (SCS and Non SCS) n/a 196,258 262,827 234,770 614,271 
			 Total n/a 463,772 617,704 847,307 1,411,320 
			 (1) Introduced in 2008

Muscular Dystrophy: Research

Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much Government funding is being made available for research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy in 2009-10.

Ann Keen: Both the Department and the Medical Research Council (MRC) support research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The MRC spent 2.1 million on such research in 2007-08. (Figures for more recent years are not yet available.) Projected departmental expenditure in the current financial year is principally expenditure by National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research centres and amounts to 450,000.

NHS: Billing

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2009,  Official Report, column 928W, on departmental billing, what steps he has taken to reduce the time taken by the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency for payment of invoices; and what the total monetary value of contracts processed by the agency was in each of the last three years.

Mike O'Brien: In May 2009, the Department published a document outlining the new commercial operating model. This will involve transferring the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency's (PASA) functions to organisations that can add greater scope, scale and impact to the procurement of goods and services.
	The total monetary value of contracts (invoices paid) processed by the agency in each of the last three years is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Financial year  Total value of invoices paid ( million) 
			 2006-07 15 
			 2007-08 16 
			 2008-09 25

NHS: Finance

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what average change in prices under the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency contracts was in each of the last two years.

Mike O'Brien: The information is not collected in the format requested, to do so would attract disproportionate cost.
	The agency reported 499.8 million in savings during 2007-08 on 360 contracts to the value of 3,321 million. Savings of 599 million were reported in 2008-09 on 313 contracts to the value of 3,229 million.

Primary Care Trusts

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many primary care trusts made bids for funding from the Community Hospitals Fund in each of the last three years; how many such bids were successful; how much was allocated in respect of each such bid; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: In total 51 primary care trusts (PCTs) made bids for funding, of which 28 were successful. The successful bids are listed as follows, along with their respective total departmental allocations.
	
		
			  Strategic health authority  PCT  Scheme  Department of Health  funding  ( million rounded) 
			 North East Sunderland Teaching Washington Primary Care Centre 8.9 
			 North East Hartlepool Hartlepool Primary Care Facility 3.0 
			 North West Stockport St. Thomas' 26.6 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Calderdale PCT, Kirklees PCT Calderdale and Kirklees Community Services 13.8 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Rotherham Rotherham Primary Care Centre 1.0 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber North Yorkshire and York Selby Health and Community Campus 13.0 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber East Riding of Yorkshire East Riding Community Hospitals (Beverley, Hornsea and Driffield) 17.0 
			 East Midlands Nottingham County Teaching Ashfield Community Hospital 1.149 
			 West Midlands Worcestershire Malvern Community Hospital 19.2 
			 East of England Suffolk Felixstowe General Hospital 1.8 
			 London Haringey Hornsey Community Hospital 1.76 
			 London Barking and Dagenham Barking Hospital 5.0 
			 London Richmond and Twickenham Teddington Health and Social Care Centre 4.0 
			 London Barnet Finchley Memorial Hospital 9.9 
			 London Kensington and Chelsea St. Charles Hospital 10.5 
			 London Greenwich Eltham and Mottingham Hospital 4.6 
			 South East Coast Hastings and Rother Hastings Primary Health Care Centre 12.3 
			 South East Coast Eastern and Coastal Kent Health and Social Care Centre at Kings Avenue, Ashford, Kent 9.0 
			 South Central Hampshire Gosport War Memorial Hospital 6.1 
			 South Central Southampton Royal South Hants Hospital 6.1 
			 South Central Portsmouth City Teaching St. Mary's Community Hospital 17.1 
			 South Central Buckinghamshire Thame 4.0 
			 South West South Gloucestershire Yate Community Health Centre 5.0 
			 South West Somerset Minehead Healthy Living Park 24.5 
			 South West Bristol South Bristol Community Hospital 3.9 
			 South West Bath and North East Somerset Keynsham Health Park 5.8 
			 South West Gloucestershire Berkeley Vale 6.4 
			 South West Gloucestershire North Cotswolds 13.2 
			 Total Department of Health funding   c. 250

Weather

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 2 June 2009,  Official Report, column 404W, on weather, what the costs were of  (a) revising each of the three web-based documents and  (b) printing and posting the leaflet.

Gillian Merron: The Heatwave Plan itself is a web-based document only.
	To date, the cost of producing and distributing the 2009 package of Heatwave Plan documents is 79,504.79, made up of the cost of revising the three web-based documents and enabling them to be downloaded from the Department's website, and the printing and posting costs of the leaflet. The breakdown of costs is:
	
		
			
			 Revision costs 2,274.70 
			 Mail out of leaflets 50,385.09 
			 Printing 900,000 copies of leaflet 26,845.00

Aviation: Government Assistance

Peter Luff: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent application he has received from the aerospace sector for repayable launch investment; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Lucas: In the last 18 months, Government have received applications for repayable launch investment from Bombardier, GKN and Airbus. Each of these is being taken forward. We announced on 13 July 2008 agreement in principle to support to Bombardier Aerospace for the design and development of the composite wing for the new CSeries aircraft, approved by the European Commission on 18 June 2009. The final agreed figure of repayable launch investment was 113.37 million. Similarly, we announced on 15 September 2008, agreement to provide a 60 million repayable launch investment to GKN Aerospace for the design and development of the rear spar and fixed trailing edge on the new Airbus A350 XWB aircraft, subject to European Commission approval. We are currently in detailed negotiations with Airbus about funding arrangements for the A350 XWB aircraft.

Business: Advisory Services

John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what progress has been made in simplifying the reporting of inconsistent or inaccurate guidance as referred to in the Government's response to the Anderson Review of Good Guidance.

Ian Lucas: The better regulation website provides a simple way for businesses to report inaccurate or inconsistent guidance. Issues are handled by the relevant Department or agency and a response posted on the website. A new version of the site has recently been launched and provides a clearer and more up to date web form which businesses can use to report issues.
	The facility to report inconsistent or inaccurate guidance is available at:
	http://www.betterregulation.gov.uk/idea/

Business: Government Assistance

Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what progress the Government has made towards its target of reducing administrative burdens on the private and third sectors by 25 per cent. by 2010.

Ian Lucas: As at December 2008, Departments, Regulators and Agencies involved in the administrative burden reduction programme reported delivery of 1,888 million of annual net administrative savings, i.e. a 14.4 per cent. reduction.
	Progress for each Department, Regulator or Agency is reported in their Simplification Plans which can be found at:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/bre/policy/simplifying-existing-regulation/simplification-plans/2007/page44068.html
	To ensure that the reduction efforts are felt on the ground, claimed savings are scrutinised by a External Validation Panel, made up of representatives from business organisations, before they are reported. The Government will report further progress in December 2009.

Business: Government Assistance

Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what progress the Government has made towards its target of identifying annual net reductions in costs to private sector organisations of 3.5 billion by 2010.

Ian Lucas: The Government's target is to deliver a 25 per cent. annual net reduction in the administrative burdens on regulation affecting businesses and third sector organisations by May 2010, so reducing costs by an estimated 3.4 billion. As at December 2008, Departments, regulators and agencies involved in the administrative burden reduction programme reported delivery of 1,888 million of annual net administrative savings, i.e. a 14.4 per cent. reduction.
	Progress for each Department, regulator or agency is reported in their Simplification Plans which can be found at:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/bre/policy/simplifying-existing-regulation/simplification-plans/2007/page44068.html
	To ensure that the reduction efforts are felt on the ground, claimed savings are scrutinised by an External Validation Panel, made up of representatives from business organisations, before they are reported. The Government will report further progress in December 2009.

Business: Regulation

Brian Binley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost to businesses of regulations due to come into force in April 2009.

Ian Lucas: Government Departments publish details of regulatory changes introduced on the two common commencement dates of 6 April and 1 October on the BusinessLink website:
	http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/ccds
	In April 2009, 22 regulatory changes were published on BusinessLink.
	These included the second phase of the extension to the statutory entitlement to four weeks' paid holiday required under the EU working time directive, making it additional to the number of bank holidays in England and Wales. This extended the right for all workers from 24 to 28 days holiday a year. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Economics and Business on 28 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1274W. The cost to business of this second phase was estimated at between 1.8 billion and 2.4 billion.
	The remaining 21 regulatory changes are estimated to have a total additional net cost to business of approximately 30 million. The estimated total benefits of these 21 regulatory changes are in excess of 230 million, it is not always possible to monetise the benefits of regulation.

Business: Regulation

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what representations Ministers from his Department and its predecessors have made to the European Union on a reduction in the regulatory burden on business in the last 12 months.

Ian Lucas: Following successful Government lobbying at the Spring European Council in 2007 to secure agreement to a target to reduce administrative burdens stemming from EU law by 25 per cent. by 2012, Ministers from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and its predecessors have continued to push the European Commission to bring forward simplification proposals as a matter of priority.
	This has already resulted in the Commission presenting a proposal to give member states the option to exempt micro-enterprises from the requirements of the accounting directives. In January, the Commission committed to making:
	Every effort... to adopt these proposals before the end of this Commission mandate.
	Ministers were instrumental in paving the way for the 2009 Spring European Council conclusions which urged the Commission to go one step further and:
	present all proposals in each of the 13 priority areas before the end of its mandate.
	Ministers were also key in getting better regulation measures into the Small Business Act for Europe which was agreed in June 2008.
	As a result, the Act stresses the importance of reducing administrative burdens and includes a Commission commitment to assess the impact on SMEs of all forthcoming legislative and administrative initiatives and to use 'specific measures' such as transition periods, derogations and exemptions for small and micro firms, wherever appropriate.
	EU member states endorsed the Small Business Act in December 2008, calling for action to be prioritised in areas where it will have most impact, including better regulation. Ministers pressed for this emphasis and continue to underline the importance of implementing better regulation commitments at the EU level at every opportunity.

Climate Change

Simon Hughes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many  (a) full-time equivalent and  (b) headcount officials at each grade are working in his Department's energy and climate change unit; and which Minister is responsible for the unit;
	(2)  what the budget under each sub-heading is of his Department's energy and climate change unit in 2009-10; and what the  (a) responsibilities and  (b) programme of work are of that unit.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 8 May 2009
	 There are 17 full-time equivalent posts in the energy and climate change unit and a current vacancy with a Range 11 official covering the SCS post. The breakdown is as follows:
	
		
			  Posts in the energy and climate change unit by grade 
			   Number 
			 SCS (1)1 
			 R11 2 
			 R10 6 
			 R8 5 
			 R5/PA 1 
			 Faststream 1 
			 Industry secondee 1 
			 (1) Vacant post 
		
	
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5 May 2009,  Official Report, column 55W, to the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare (John Penrose) and to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the then Minister for Business and Economics on 20 May 2009,  Official Report, column 1470W, to the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare (John Penrose).
	Following the recent reshuffle, Lord Drayson is the Minister responsible for the unit within the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Debts: Advisory Services

David Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what services his Department's face-to-face debt advice project has provided since September 2008; how many  (a) males and  (b) females in each age group have applied for assistance under the project since September 2008; what estimate he has made of the number and percentage of such people who have had their debt problems resolved; whether the project is able to loan money to applicants; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Lucas: The Department's face-to-face debt advice projectfunded by the Treasury's Financial Inclusion Fundprovides the crucial broad range of advice assistance required by those facing crisis debt situations. From 1 October 2008 to 31 March 2009 51,131 clients were helped. The split between males and females seen is roughly 46.8 per cent. male and 53.2 female and this gives the numbers seen as 23,929 men and 27,202 women. The project does not claim to resolve every single aspect of the debt problems of all clients but a large number of clients are helped to arrange debt repayment plans. All are offered on-going assistance until they are satisfied unlike some funding schemes that have cut off points.
	There is no facility to loan people money from the project. However, the Financial Inclusion Fund also funds the Department for Work and Pension's Growth Fund and this helps facilitate credit union loans to people in our client target group.

Departmental Public Consultation

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many public consultations have been conducted by his Department and its predecessors since 27 June 2007; what the title of each was ; how many responses were received to each; and what estimate he has made of the cost incurred for each consultation.

Ian Lucas: holding answer 18 June 2009
	BIS and its predecessors have conducted 79 consultations since 27 June 2007. The titles of those relating to the former BERR are listed at:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/consultations/index.html
	The titles of the former DIUS ones are listed at
	http://www.dius.gov.uk/consultations
	The number of replies received for individual consultations is recorded in the government response documentsthese are published on the above departmental websites alongside the consultations themselves. Providing the costs of conducting the consultations could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Dietary Supplements: Channel Islands

Brian Iddon: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what information his Department holds on the systems Royal Mail has in place to monitor the content of mail order catalogues from health food manufacturers distributing products from the Channel Islands who have previously breached the requirements of the Advertising Standards Agency's Committee on Advertising Practice code;
	(2)  what information his Department holds on action taken by Royal Mail against health food manufacturers operating from the Channel Islands whose mail order catalogues were found to be in breach of the requirements of the Advertising Standards Agency's Committee on Advertising Practice code in the last 12 months.

Patrick McFadden: The Department is not aware that Royal Mail has any such systems in place.
	There are no specific powers in the Postal Services Act 2000 to control direct-mail advertising from the Channel Islands. Royal Mail is legally obliged to deliver all mail to given addresses and has no control over the contents of postal packets or letters which have been properly posted, paid for and correctly addressed.

EU Internal Trade

John Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the amount saved by UK companies on tariffs on exports to EU countries consequent upon the UK's EU membership in the last 10 years.

Ian Lucas: No estimate has been made because there is a lot of uncertainty as to what tariff and non-tariff barriers UK exporters to the EU would face if the UK were not a member. It is likely that even the UK was not a member, it would have some preferential access to EU markets, but this could be in several forms.
	In the extreme or worst case scenario UK businesses could be forced to pay the most favoured nation tariff (the tariff applied to countries with no preferential access) to export to the EU. Higher tariff and non tariff barriers in this scenario would decrease the competitiveness of UK exports in the EU, and therefore would likely reduce the volume of trade taking placemeaning a greater loss of jobs and business opportunities for UK companies.
	The UK would therefore have the incentive to enter some sort of free trade agreement with the EU. Such agreements remove tariffs for the majority of goods but vary greatly in the extent to which they remove non-tariff barriers. These include differences in regulations (health and safety regulations for example) which make exporting to the EU more costly. They vary also greatly in the extent to which they cover other areas of great economic importance like trade in services, investment, intellectual property matters, migration, competition issues as well as public procurement.
	In the best case scenario, the UK would still enjoy full access to the single market like the members of the European free trade area. That would mean however that it would have to take on board all EU regulations linked to the single market now and in the future, with no influence on designing them. Just like Norway, the UK would probably also have to contribute financially to continue benefiting from this access.
	Calculating the costs imposed on UK businesses under all of these possible outcomes could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether the car scrappage scheme applies to mobility-supplied vehicles which are over 10 years old.

Ian Lucas: Under the scheme motorists are being offered a discount of 2,000 on a new car or van if they trade in vehicles for scrappage that they have owned for 12 or more months and which were registered in the UK before 31 August 1999. Motability supplied vehicles which meet the criteria of the scheme are eligible.

Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many loans have been made to the automotive industry under the Automotive Assistance Programme since the programme became operational; and what the monetary value of such loans is.

Ian Lucas: We are currently in detailed discussions with a number of businesses about their applications for funding under the Automotive Assistance Programme (AAP).
	There have been more than 70 further requests for information on the scheme with the AAP team working with companies resulting in around 18 approaches being developed into detailed discussions with BIS for serious applications, and there are others in the pipeline.
	The details of support to companies are commercially sensitive and subject to agreement. As a general rule the Government's intention is to offer loan guarantees, though there is scope under the programme to offer loans as well.

Motor Vehicles: Research

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to promote research and development within the automotive industry.

Ian Lucas: The Technology Strategy Board's (TSB) low carbon vehicle innovation platform provides more than 100 million for research, development and demonstration, including the ultra-low carbon vehicle demonstrator programme.
	The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has supported the establishment of Cenex. This is a delivery agency to promote UK market development and competitiveness in low carbon and fuel cell technologies for transport applications. Cenex's principal focus is on catalysing market transformation projects linking technology providers and end users. As part of this work, it runs a number of programmes for UK national and regional Government, including the low carbon vehicle procurement programme and the low carbon and fuel cell technology knowledge transfer network.
	On 27 January 2009, Government announced the automotive assistance package (AAP). This series of measures was state aid cleared on 27 February. The primary aim of this package of up to 2.3 billion is to support the continued delivery of investment that will create or sustain jobs, develop cutting-edge technology, bring special value to the UK, reduce CO2 emissions and maintain R and D in UK vehicle manufacturing.
	The Government-facilitated, industry led new automotive innovation and growth team (NAIGT) published its report on 6 May. Key recommendations aimed at both industry and Government, included proposals to focus the UK automotive R and D agenda around a new industry-consensus technology roadmap. The Government's intention is to publish its formal response to the NAIGT report during the summer.

North East Regional Development Agency

Bob Neill: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which  (a) festivals and  (b) other events the North East Regional Development Agency has undertaken to support or sponsor through the culture10 Partnership; and what sums have been allocated in each case.

Rosie Winterton: Details of the investments proposed by all partners of the Culture 10 Programme (including One NorthEast) in 2009-10 are tabled as follows:
	
		
			  Proposed Culture 10 Investments 2009-10 
			  Project title  Arts Council England NE  Newcastle city council  Gateshead council  One NorthEast  Northern Rock Foundation  Total 
			 International Village of Culture80,000  80,000 
			 ReGarrison of Hadrian's Wall320,000 30,000 350,000 
			 EAT! NewcastleGateshead Food Festival  25,000 25,000 50,000 50,000 150,000 
			 The Late Shows 25,000 15,000 10,000   50,000 
			 Great North Museum Opening  0 
			 Hotel Monument  0 
			 2009 Evolution  62,500 62,500 19,500 62,500 207,000 
			 Northern Rock Cyclone20,000  20,000 
			 2009 Summer Tyne Festival (including Sing for Water)   85,000 110,000 5,000 200,000 
			 Summer Tyne Local Activity 30,000 30,000 
			 Aviva British Grand Prix   75,000 125,000  200,000 
			 2008 Print Biennale  20,000  40,000 40,000 100,000 
			 International Cricket Matches350,000  350,000 
			 Durham Brass Festival 32,500   32,500  65,000 
			 Reinventing the City  50,000 50,000 40,000 50,000 190,000 
			 Tour of Britain200,000  200,000 
			 Nova Great North Run  25,000 25,000 160,000  210,000 
			 Avison Live: Division Lobby  5,000  10,000  15,000 
			 Xperience127,000  127,000 
			 Juice Childrens Festival 50,000 65,000 65,000 100,000 20,000 300,000 
			 Gateshead International Cross Country Races   50,000 50,000  100,000 
			 Durham Ilumenata II100,000  100,000 
			 Northumberland Winter Festival 50,000   170,000 30,000 250,000 
			 Northern Lights Film Festival  25,000  75,000  100,000 
			 NewcastleGateshead Winter Festival  75,000 100,000  50,000 225,000 
			 AV Festival 50,000   100,000  150,000 
			 Science Festival50,000  50,000 
			 Wildworks200,000 60,000 260,000 
			 Wildworks Local Activity 40,000 40,000 
			 Live Art Festival 50,000 50,000 
			 Odin's GlowTees Valley (Roseberry Topping) 25,000   80,000 45,000 150,000 
			 Stockton Bridge Opening Celebration 25,000   55,000  80,000 
			 NCC cultural partners  250,000250,000 
			 Total 307,500 617,500 547,500 2,664,000 512,500 4,649,000

Royal Mail

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on what basis it was decided to propose a sale of 30 per cent. of Royal Mail; what other percentages were considered; and why they were rejected.

Ian Lucas: The level of shareholding required to cement a partnership for Royal Mail is a matter for negotiation with any partner. Government have cited a shareholding in the region of 30 per cent. as one which would be sufficient for the partner to have a strong economic interest in Royal Mail and to ensure its incentives are fully aligned with those of the Governmentnamely to modernise the business rapidly and improve its performance.

Uzbekistan: Imports

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the merits of banning imports of Uzbek cotton.

Ian Lucas: Most calls for a ban have been around concerns about labour abuses, especially the use of child labour, in Uzbekistan. The UK remains concerned about allegations of the use of child labour in the cotton sector in Uzbekistan. The UK has raised its concerns through the EU and has discussed this issue with the Uzbek government. The EU welcomed Uzbekistan's signing of the International Labour Organisation Conventions on the Worst Forms of Child Labour and Minimum Age in 2008 and 2009 respectively and has urged Uzbekistan to implement effectively its international obligations in this regard.
	The UK Government continue to call on businesses to look at their supply chains and take appropriate action if they find evidence that goods have been produced using child labour. Some companies have committed to not using Uzbek cotton in their products and monitor their direct supply chains to ensure that this is so.

Video Games: Finance

Philip Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much financial support was given by UK Trade and Investment to the video games industry in 2007-08.

Ian Lucas: UK Trade and Investment supports the UK Video Game Industry through the ICT, Creative Industries and Education Sector Teams as well as through its overseas posts and regional colleagues based in the Regional Development Agencies.
	Sector Codes used to account for spend by UKTI in 2007-08 do not include a 'video game' subsector. When one includes activities beneficial to the Video Game Industry through support of the entire Software sector in the UK and overseas, the approximate spend is 464,484.

Working Capital Scheme

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills when the Working Capital Scheme began operation; and how much funding has been provided under the scheme.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 6 March 2009
	The Working Capital Guarantee Scheme was formally launched on 2 March 2009 as planned when announced by the Secretary of State on the 14 January.
	We have signed 1 billion of guarantees with RBS and Lloyds for portfolios of 2 billion. The financing for businesses it releases has already started from 1 March as a result of the lending agreements based on the Asset Protection Scheme and WCS. We will be allocating from the 10 billion WCS, guarantees for trade credit insurance in response to the constraint to working capital arising from withdrawal of trade credit insurance. We will also be consulting on the viability of using some of these guarantees for letters of credit and other forms of export finance which are also possible areas of constraint for working capital.